


New, different world

by OliviaMalcoln



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Angst, Crossover, Funny, Happens after far from home, Morgan has a happy famiy, Other, Peter Parker in UA, Peter Parker is confused, Tony Stark is alive because fuck canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2020-08-13
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:54:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 34,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25573156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OliviaMalcoln/pseuds/OliviaMalcoln
Summary: It was supposed to be a perfectly normal day. After the whole fiasco with Mysterio, things are slowly settling down. Peter came back to Stark internships, Pepper, Tony and Morgan finally have some peaceful life as a family and Peter hopes he won’t screw things up with MJ. That is of course until a big, bright light in the lab teleports him into another world. Where everybody has powers they call “quirks”. After he’s rescued by two strangers who call each other “pro heroes”, he wakes up in a hospital bed. Where is he? Is he stuck there forever? Just when he tought the trouble ended...Tony Stark also seems to not be amused. He wants his son back.Basically, MCU/BNHA crossover I had in mind for a while but couldn’t get myself to write it down. I hope you'll enjoy :)
Relationships: Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead/Yamada Hizashi | Present Mic, Bakugou Katsuki/Kirishima Eijirou, Bakugou Katsuki/Midoriya Izuku, Carol Danvers/Maria Rambeau, Iida Tenya/Midoriya Izuku, May Parker (Spider-Man) & Peter Parker, Michelle Jones/Peter Parker, Midoriya Izuku/Uraraka Ochako, Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe) & Tony Stark, Ned Leeds & Peter Parker, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Flash Thompson, Peter Parker & Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 19
Kudos: 82





	1. Machine

The day finally came to an end. Or to be more clear, afternoon.  
The math test was a total nightmare. Peter could barely focus on it after everything that happened recently.  
First the building is falling on him, then he turns to dust, then he suddenly comes back to life after five years, then the whole fiasco with Mysterio.

God, he had such a luck that Mr. Stark and Mr. Talos were on his side.  
With Mr. Stark’s reputation and Mr. Talos’ abilities they created quite a good intrigue. Mr. Stark talked to the camera on public TV with Talos turned into Peter Parker, while Spiderman saved somebody’s life in the background. Simple, but worked better than they expected.

Of course, stress was not lacking. At that time literally everybody were after him, including police and CIA.  
Bless Sharon Carter and Everett Ross for being reasonable human beings and actually going along with Mr. Stark’s plan.

Now, when the situation was over, he thought he could finally go back to his normal life.  
Yeah...Thought.

This beautiful plan could have worked if Mysterio’s podcast wasn’t transmitted on every channel. Unfortunately, this gained him a lot of popularity in school.  
Flash Thompson almost went through a heart attack when Spider Man's identity was revealed, at least that’s what MJ said. After the whole thing ended, he was relieved and came back to his old jokes. It wasn’t that much of a problem. After years, Peter got used to them. Maybe it was for the better that Flash didn’t try to make up for everything, because he’s a fan of spiderman. That would be another problem he didn’t need right now. It’s a good thing he thinks Spiderman is not Peter. Once again, thank you Mr. Stark and Mr. Talos.

Peter had to deal with something bigger right now. Because when Flash came back to his old self, meanwhile literally everyone else at school bombarded Peter with every kind of question. After a while everything calmed down, but it was still not over.  
Till this day he could feel their looks, questions written all over their faces.  
“Why him? Why did Mysterio wanted everybody to think Peter is Spiderman?” 

Going back to normal life wasn’t an option. And normal conversation with Aunt May was officially considered a gift of a miracle.  
She was more anxious than ever.  
When Peter was chased by the police, she couldn’t sleep or eat or in general funcion right on daily basis.  
Of course, while Mr. Stark was doing everything to clear Peter’s name, she got a lot of support from Mr. Happy and Ms. Potts. Morgan’s company also seemed to be calming her nerves.

But now, even though everything ended fine, with Peter’s name cleared and everyone going back to not knowing who’s Spider Man, she still can’t sleep. She’s spending every night, thinking about her nephew still going on dangerous missions, with media looking for him regardless of everything. He put a lot of pressure on her. And that will be something he will never forgive himself for.

He thought that maybe going back to Stark’s internships would help him forget about problems. And for some time, it did.  
He enjoyed sharing his ideas with Mr. Banner, who recently came back to his human form. Creating new suits with Mr. Stark was delightful, daily talks with Ms. Potts or eating cookies and drinking milk with Morgan seemed to be a good healing process. It was all coming together. He was at least kind of relaxed.

Speaking of Morgan, she absolutely adored her brother figure. Her father used to talk about him all the time when she was younger. So naturally, meeting that amazing hero in real life was a dream come true.

He enjoyed taking care of her when her parents were busy, or taking her to town or amusement park, along with MJ and Ned. Sometimes, Betty tagged along as well. Even Flash seems to like her. He even went as far as tolerating Peter, to for some reason make her smile.

Of course, Peter and Flash would never call each other friends. But...At least Flash didn’t seem to be as big of an asshole as he was before.

Spending time with MJ and Ned, but mostly with MJ, was also some kind of a healing time for Peter.  
He calmed down and felt like he could finally enjoy life a little.  
But that didn’t mean he stopped thinking about recent events.  
Even now, with Mystierio in prison, he still couldn't feel comfortable with letting his guard down for less than a second.  
He was slowly drowning in work and patrols to distract himself from his thoughts going into storm.

Everyone were always sacrificing everything to help him. He was giving his loved ones terror, anxiety and stress all the time. And what was he doing for them? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Sometimes he wanted to quit. He truly wanted to quit being Spiderman. Just going back to life as a regular teenager. But he knew he couldn't. He just...Couldn’t. 

With great power comes great responsibility

Everything he fought for, everybody fighting for him. Nothing would make sense anymore if he just left, gave up.  
He couldn’t just get rid of his powers. But many, many times, he truly wished he was able to.

If something bad was happening and he wouldn’t do anything...Would that be his fault?

“Peter?” he looked up to see MJ’s hand waving directly at his face. “Earth to the nerd.”

He rubbed his eyes and looked at her, confused.  
Oh yeah, he was still walking.  
Peter left the school with MJ and Ned by his side, still spacing out and being quiet, like during the whole day at school.

With everything that happened, he was quiet more than ever. That usually talkative and excited about everything teenager, now very quiet, closed and shy. It wasn't a good thing to be looking at. And that worried his friends.

They knew he needed time to process everything. But regardless, they felt helpless, like they couldn’t do anything to make him feel better.

“Looks like you spaced out for a moment there.” MJ said with a laugh in her voice.  
“Everything okay?”

“Did you get any sleep last night?” Ned asked, biting the top of his candy bar. “I have another one. Are you hungry? Do you want one?”

Peter bit his lip.  
Come on, say something already.

“Ah, sorry.” He he finally spoke up, scratching his head. “Thank you, but no. I’m not hungry. I uh, I’m just a little nervous.”

“About the project?” MJ asked. Peter nodded.

Ned walked up little closer.

“What project?” he asked, swallowing the piece of candy bar he was chewing.

Peter squeezed the arms of his backpack. Slowly, he let oxygen flow through his lungs.

“Mr. Stark wanted to show me something.” He explained. “Told me it’s a surprise, but I definitely won’t regret it.” 

“Seriously?” Ned spoke with softer voice again. He looked a little concerned. “Aren’t you tired with all those projects?”

Peter looked at him.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean...Well, don’t get me wrong. But there is like...A lot of them recently. You seem to spend more time there than at home. And I’m really glad that you’re enjoying what you’re doing, but don’t you think you’re overworking yourself a little?”

Peter looked at the sky. He wanted to choose the words wisely, looking for a good answer.  
Deep down, he knew that what he was doing was wrong.

Escaping from his problems, sinking into work.

But right now it was the only thing that could get his mind off...Well..Everything.  
He didn’t need to drag others into his mess again. He was fine. They needed a rest too. They didn’t need to be stressed like him right now.

“I kind of agree with Ned.” MJ said, trying to not sound concerned. She knew that Peter didn’t like when people were worrying about him. When he spotted even the slightest hint of concern, he was automatically backing off, going back to smiling and pretending that everything was fine. She just wanted him to be okay. Truly okay. But at this point, she just didn’t know what to do. Even though she would never admit it, she was completely helpless. “Maybe you should take a break? We could go to get some thai, or to the cinema. Wouldn’t that be nice?”

Peter smiled, a little grin building on his face.

“I’m fine, really.” he said with a voice more confident than ever. “Cinema does sounds nice, but right now I have to end everything I started.”

MJ opened her mouth like she wanted to add something. But then something else caught her eye, cutting her words from the conversation.

Suddenly, a black, long limousine pulled into the parking lot. A door opened, revealing chubby, gray-haired man with suit and glasses.

It didn’t took long for the three to realize it was Happy.

“Hey kid!” He called. “Come on, we don’t have all day!”

“Ah, geez” Peter looked at him and then turned to his friends again. “I was hoping he would pick me up somewhere close to the park. We could walk together a little longer.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Ned reassured him. “I was supposed to go home earlier anyway.”

“Yeah, no stress” MJ adjusted Peter’s hood. “We'll make up for it somehow.” She kissed his lips, and slightly noticed with a corner of her eye thet Happy turned his head to the other side. It almost make her laught.

Peter blushed. 

Him and MJ were a couple for three months already, and yet he still couldn’t get used to the fact that they were actually together and were able to casually kiss, hug and hold hands with one another.

That was something completely new to him. He was used to them being just friends. Which is why he was still so shy about it.  
She wished he started to treat her more like a girlfriend than a friend. But at the same time she knew how shy he was. So she was willing to wait whatever it takes.

Either way, she didn’t complain. Because he was as sweet as always.

He didn’t know what to say so he just smiled and nodded. Then, his head turned around and he started running to the limousine. 

“Hey! Parker!” She called, before he was too far away. Before he knew it, she was standing next to him. “Here.” She handed him a package. A black, little box wrapped in blue ribbon. Looked really elegant. “I was supposed to give it to you tomorrow, but uh...I guess..Screw that.”

“What is it?” He asked, looking directly into her eyes.

“Open and you will find out.” She shook her leg a little, drawing circles on the ground. “I uh...Take it as a ‘thank you’ for the necklace you gave me during the school trip.”

Peter blushed even more. He began to untie the bow.

“Not now!” MJ stopped him and laughed. “Tomorrow idiot.”

Peter turned around to Happy. The man looked a little irritated, hitting his watch with index finger.

“Oh. Right.” Peter breathed, almost joining MJ in laughing.

“Well, go get’em tiger.” She kissed him again. “And call me when you’ll have time.”

“Of course.” He smiled to her brightly and ran to Happy’s side.

Happy opened the door.

“You took your time.” He said sarcastically.

“Sorry.” answered Peter in bewilderment and got to the car.

***  
When they finally got to the Avengers towers, the wind seems to strengthen itself.  
A chill went through Peter’s spine, as he observed wind playing with trees.

“Everything alright?” Asked Happy, while putting on his jacket.

“It’s nothing.” Peter said. “It’s just...I think it got a little chilly, don’t you think?”

“It’s the beginning of autumn kid, what did you expect?” Happy went forward and Peter followed him.

“Hello Happy. Hello Peter.” F.R.I.D.A.Y. welcomed them as soon as they crossed threshold of the main entrance. 

Both of them heard soft, tiny footsteps running towards them.

“Peter!” a cheerful, delicate voice of brown-haired little girl came to their ears. 

Peter smiled and kneeled on the floor. Morgan jumped right into his arms.

“I missed you!” She said with a really excited voice. “Look what I drew!”

She showed him her beautiful picture, made with crayons and a little bit of oil-colour.  
It seemed to be a series of red, black and blue squares and circles, forming a whole to resemble a really, friendly, popular neighborhood hero, who liked shooting webs and climb on buildings.

Peter’s smile grew wider, as he hugged the little girl.

“Awww, thank you so much Morgan.” He said with a voice full of happiness. “You’re such a talented artist.”

“She couldn’t wait to see you.” He heard another voice. Ms. Potts suddenly entered the room, wearing white, short dress, with documents in her right hand. “That was literally the only thing she talked about for the whole day.” 

“Hello Ms. Potts.” He welcomed her with a smile.

Ms. Potts was followed by another person. Which was a surprise, because as far as Peter remembered, Mr Stark wasn’t supposed to have any other guests today, aside from him, Doctor Banner and another person he haven’t met yet, connected to the project. Mr. Barton was currently on retirement and Mr. Thor was in space. So who could that be?

He saw a tall, muscular lady with dark eyes and short, blonde hair. She was wearing tight jeans and white blouse with subtitle “Best” written in black.

That was the moment when he recognized her. 

The woman that saved his life and protected the gauntlet during the fight with Thanos. The one shooting lasers from her hands. He almost didn’t recognize her without her hero costume.

“Mrs. Danvers?” He asked with clear excitement in his voice.

“Please, just call me Carol.” She smiled at him.

“What are you...What are you doing here...Eh...Carol.” He stuttered, clearly more than excited.

He could hear her laughing under her nose.

“She said she has some free time now.” Morgan answered for her, still in Peter’s arms. “So after sorting the paper work with daddy, she will visit her girlfriend!.” She said cheerfully.

“Maria is not my girlfriend sweetie.” Carol protested with shy smile, clearly embarrassed. Peter could swear she was blushing.

“Not yet anyway.” Pepper winked to Morgan. The little girl laughed again.

“Hey!” Carol protested.

“Are we going to drink cocoa again?” Morgan asked Peter, her eyes were shining like diamonds. Peter brushed her hair and picked her up in bridal style. She laughed cheerfully.

“When I finish working with your dad, then sure.” He handed the girl over to her mother. “Speaking of him, where is Mr. Stark now?”

“He’s waiting for you in the lab.” Pepper explained, pulling something out of the dress’ pocket. “Here’s your badge. Door number four.”

Peter shook his head and entered the corridor.

“A minute!” Carol stopped him, pulling him by his hood. Peter turned to her in surprise. “It was nice to see you again. But uh...I doubt we will get to spend any time together and...Well...Since Tony is doing a lot to me right now and you are...Well...Basically his son-”

Peter raised his hand to protest, but was cut off fast.

“Oh, don’t even try.” She stopped him, before he could even say one word. “Anyway. I didn’t know you would be here today, so I didn’t brought any presentes and-”

“Oh, that’s totally fine.” Peter interrupted. “Seeing you again is enough of a present, trust me.”

Carol smiled at kid’s innocence and adorableness.

“You are raised really well.” She brushed his hair with her hand. “But I still feel kind of bad that I don’t have anything for you so...How about this?”

She pulled from her pocket a weird, large machine with fastening strap, looking like a box with a microphone. 

“What is it?” Peter asked, taking the machine in his hands.

“Intergalactic translator.” Carol explained. “With it, you can communicate in any language without even knowing it. You just need to click the right option.”

Peter opened his eyes wider.

“Wow!” He almost gasped. “Are you sure I can take it? Is this galactic technology? Do you actually trust me with it? Aren’t you going to need it and-”

“Hey, hey. Calm down.” Carol laughed. “I’m not giving it to you. Just...Borrowing it for the time being. Until I come back form Maria’s. You can play with it with your friends. But please, try not to break it. I mean, it’s technically created to survive intergalactic fights, but kids your age are...Really creative. I need it for my work when I go back up there.” She pointed her finger towards the ceiling. Peter understood that she means space. “So please be careful.”

“O-Of course!” Peter said, almost bowing towards her. “I swear I will look after it well!”

“I’m really glad.” Carol smiled proudly. “Now go. I think Tony and Bruce are waiting for you in the lab.”

“Yes!” Peter was suddenly restored to his right mind, into reality. Of course, the project. “Thank you again! Bye!” He ran, looking for the door number four.

Carol shook her head, with a grin on her face.

“Ah, children.”

“I drew something for you as well!” She heard Morgan saying. The little girl handed Happy another one of her drawings. 

“Oh, that’s so cute.” Pepper commented. Happy seemed to be delighted as well.

Carol felt her heart turning warm and melting at the sight of this happy family. Suddenly, she started missing Maria and Monica even more.

Peter walked a few steps down the hall, finally finding door number 4. After a few breaths, he finally entered.

“Oh, hi Peter.” The soft voice of Bruce Banner welcomed him. His eyes were detached from the microscope. 

“Hi Mr. Banner.” Peter put away his backpack next to the door.

“Oh, you’re here.” A familiar, black-haired figure with small beard and arc reactor came out from behind the door. He was wearing his usual black t-shirt and blue trousers. Today, also with the addition of white smock.

“Hi Mr. Stark.”

“I’m glad you’re finally here.” Tony smiled at him and hugged him. Even with half of his face burned and prosthetic metal arm helping him out, he still looked as cheerful as usual. “Put on your smock, it hangs in there.” He said, while pointing at hanger next to the door.

Peter took the smock and put it on himself.

“What are we actually going to do?” Peter asked, while putting goggles, given by Doctor Banner.

“You’ll see.” Tony put on his goggles as well and walk through the next door. The ones inside the lab.

Peter and Bruce followed his lead.

Now that Peter thought about it, they never actually entered that area. 

Usually they were building stuff in earlier room or in a lab behind the door number seven.  
Mr. Stark said that this is mostly because this area is used for bigger projects, since there’s a lot more space in there. And they are usually building only suits or working on improvements to old projects, they don’t really need to work there.

If they are walking inside of this mysterious area right now, that that means the project must be really big. Which made Peter even more thrilled and interested at the same time.

How important that thing must be if Mr. Stark not only uses this room for it, but also keeps it as a surprise?

When they were finally inside, a soft, soothing female voice greeted them.

Peter couldn’t explain it, but for some reason it filled him with weird nostalgia.  
For a moment he thought he was experiencing a feeling that never existed, and yet he felt sentiment for it. Like he heard it somewhere before, but at the same time he knew he hears it for the first time.

Really weird situation.

“Hello.” mentioned female voice spoke, belonging to beautiful young woman, with long, brown hair and dark eyes. She was wearing a blue sweater and white trousers. Both parts of clothing were covered with white smock, similar to the ones Bruce, Tony and Peter wore. 

“My name is Doctor Lilly Liv. But you can call me Lilly.” She said with excitement.

“Lilly Liv, correct?” Asked Banner, reaching out to her. She grabbed his hand and shook it.

“Correct. And you must be Bruce Banner. I read every single one of your work”.

“Really? I feel honored.”

Peter was looking at her, but couldn’t say a word. He was observing her, like he was looking for something, but wasn’t entirely sure what that was.

“You must be Peter Parker.” She smiled while looking at him. She reached out to him. Peter confidently shook her hand, still not saying a word. But he seemed to be smiling as well. “I hear a lot of things about you. How bright and intelligent you are. About your grades and projects and competitions you took part in. Your parents must be really proud.”

“My Aunt is.” Peter finally spit out from the depths of his soul. “Or at least, I think she is.” He nervously scratched his head. “Well, uh...I’m doing my best so..I hope so?”

“No need to be nervous.” She smiled at him again. “We are supposed to be working together. We can’t feel awkward around each other, right?”

Peter looked at Tony, than at Doctor Liv again.

“We will be working together?” He asked.

“That’s the surprise.” Tony cut the conversation. “Doctor Liv is currently working on a big project. A machine that allows people to look inside of a quantum realm without actually going inside. She emailed me about it some time ago and it looks really promising. I thought someone like you would be really interested.”

Peter looked at him in confusion, not fully understanding what he just heard.

“That’s a really simple explanation.” Said Doctor Liv. “But I guess it’s kind of correct as well. Tell me Peter, have you heard of multiverse theory?”

Peter shook his head.

“Yes. I actually...Had a little...Uh...Confrontation with it some time ago.”

Doctor Liv started walking forward, giving the rest a sign to go with her.

“You see, one of those theories says that one human being, during one day, can make millions of decisions, and each one of them creates new decisions. Every decision, every little thing we have a part in creates new universe.” She explained. “Decisions we didn’t make exist as well. Somewhere, in other worlds, between timelines. And because there’s an infinite numbers of them, sometimes we slip between them and end up in a different one.”

She stopped and looked at a big machine, hidden under purple sheet. She took a breath.

“I created this machine to look for holes between alternative worlds. To observe effects of decisions we decided not to make, or the ones that are yet to happen. To answer all kinds of ‘What if’ questions. To finally end all the doubts.”

Peter came closer to her, looking in the same direction.

“Imagine all the conflicts ending, all the wars being finished because we just...Know what to do.” She smiled.

“This sounds…” Peter said. “Really...Amazing.”

She turned her head to him slowly.

“A little scary. But really, really amazing.”

“I know.” She said, but this time, for some reason he didn’t understand, without a smile.

“It does sounds amazing.” Said Banner. “But didn’t we already build something like that during a fight with Thanos?”

“You built a machine which allowed you to travel between time and space to different lines of time by quantum realm, that is correct.” Said Liv. “But what you experienced was completely different. You visited timelines that already existed and changed them, causing new universes to be created. It was like entering a string with several knots, in which each new decision or change unties new knot. The string is time and space, and already untied knot is your universe. By new decision, the string unties new knot, which was earlier tied strongly to the string. The new string, which earlier was a knot, became a new timeline. My machine works a little different. It allows to see all of those decisions, without actually entering the quantum realm. All we need to to is to just set right co-ordinates.”

“That’s not possible.” Protested Doctor Banner. “If the new universes are not created, then how can we see them?”

“And how do you know they weren’t created Doctor Banner?” Doctor Liv put on her goggles. “Just because we didn’t created those timelines, doesn’t mean they weren’t created at all. Maybe us from other worlds started the day completely differently, which allowed them to make different decisions and create new timelines. It is possible. Everything happened and we don’t even know about it. Maybe we’re not even the main timeline. But just a part of an addition somebody left behind.”

“Okay, now it got really creepy.” Peter joked. “My head hurts.” Smile returned on Liv’s face.

“It’s not creepy.” She said. “It’s science. Of course, we still have a lot of work to do, but I think I’m on a good way.”

“Okay, so maybe instead of talking.” Tony cut the conversation again. “We will actually see how it works.”

“Sure.” Said Liv, as she took of the purple sheet from the machine.

A giant, generator-looking silver engine appeared right in front of their eyes. It was bigger than they expected.

“So.” Doctor Liv started her explanation. “If I’m remembering correctly, when I push this button.” She pointed at the big, green button on the side. “We will see the image on that screen.”

“What image?” Peter asked.

“Basically, we will see what’s happening in one of the different timelines.” She pressed some complicated numbers on the keyboard. “Let’s go into something simple...Hmmm. Peter, could you drop your badge?”

Peter looked at his badge. He was a little confused, but listened to Doctor Liv. He unclipped it and dropped it on the floor.

“Thank you. Now, we’ll see what would happen if you haven’t listened to me and never dropped the badge.”

She pressed more numbers on the keyboard. The screen changed colour from black to light blue. Numbers in white appeared.

“Is it working?” Tony asked.

More and more numbers started to appear on the screen, finally fulfilling all of it, until the light blue was unnoticeable. Suddenly, a red light appeared as well. The room was filled with an echo of a really weird, loud sound. It reminded them of an alarm, but at the same it was way too high. 

In one moment all of Peter’s signals started working at once. His ultra hearing was at it’s top. His tingling was at maximum. It was very painful. Almost like a torture.

He fell on his knees and covered his ears. He started to scream.

“Peter!” Tony called in panic, kneeling with him. He put his hands on his protege’s arms. “Hey, hey. Kid, look at me. What’s going on?”

Peter was not able to answer. Everything was too much. The sound was overwhelming him. He felt such a horrible pain, he was sure his ears started bleeding.

“What the hell is going on?!” Said Banner, panic rising in his voice.

“I-I don’t know.” Said Liv, almost as confused as him. “This...Never happened before during tests!.”

“Turn it down! NOW!” Tony screamed, hugging Peter to his chest.

“R-Right. On it!” Liv quickly ran to the panel control and started to work on co-ordinates. Suddenly, everything seemed to quieted down for a brief, short moment. Like the whole action was taking place in slow motion.

Peter had no idea what was going on. Was his other senses going off?  
He opened his eyes wider, despite the horrible pain in this ears, almost cutting through his brain. That’s when he saw it. A big, bright light, almost like a laser, coming towards him and Mr. Stark.

With the last bit of strength and determination he used his final move. With everything he had he lifted his head. On almost automatic reflex, he pushed Mr. Stark aside, almost across the room.

Despite all powers the radioactive spider gave him, he didn’t have time for further reaction. The light hit him. And suddenly he couldn’t hear nor see anything. For a moment, he was sure that he’ve lost feeling in his whole body. Was he paralyzed?

There was a big, white light, and after that...There was nothing…

Wait...Was he falling?

What was going on?

"PETER!"


	2. Where...?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Police interrogation. Mysterious woman visits Peter. Where is he? What is going on?

The day looked promisingly good. The sun was up in the sky, fulfilling the town with a nice weather. Luckily, there was also no sign of a villain. Just a normal, sunny day, with civilians going through their normal routine.

For two certain pro heroes, it was more than enough. As much as they liked fighting crime.

Well, maybe “like” wasn’t a good word here. But they didn’t mind putting villains in prison, when they were hurting others.

Even for pros like them, the a peace like that was just what they needed.

After recent events, the last thing they wanted was another villain attack. Although it might have seemed kind of boring, it was still pretty cool to rest for a bit and allow their minds to relax.  
Hizashi was walking around the town with loose hair and casual clothes for the first time in forever. And in all honesty, it felt good not to wear leather in a hot, burning sun for once, without tons of gel flowing down his face.

With his regular, transparent glasses and a drink in his hand, he looked completely different, almost like not himself. But it was probably better this way. Not many people recognized him without his hero costume. Which was a really good thing, since Shouta wanted to spend this afternoon peacefully, without any loud people wanting an autograph.

It wasn’t a problem in Aizawa’s case. As always, he was wearing his loose clothes, with addition of his disheveled, black hair. And because he prefered to work in the shadows, people usually didn’t recognize him, hero costume or civilian. But as much as he looked tired, his looks were actually pretty decent. Well, he did took a shower before leaving.

He was holding a paper cup of ice tea in his right hand and even though he wasn’t smiling, it looked like he was enjoying himself.

The man was happy, that despite everything that happened he and his best friend could finally enjoy some free time like the old days, when they used to go for a cold drink with…

Aizawa signed quietly. He knew it was not the time to think about stuff like this.

He looked up to see the sky and started following with a corner of his eye some couples with children.

Suddenly, he really regretted that Eri-chan wasn’t with them. But Kayama begged for a day alone with her for weeks now. He couldn’t possibly say “no” to her, when she was finally able to take a day off.

They are probably having fun He thought to himself. Kayama planned to take Eri to cinema and luna park. He was also sure that Emi was supposed to tag along as well.

The whole thing was supposed to be some kind of a “girls day” or something more like “moms day”. And Aizawa was genuinely happy that all of them will have a good time.

Still, even though he knew he will see her again, he still missed her.

Is that what fatherhood feels like?

He put his hands in pockets of his trousers and looked at Yamada.

The blonde turned around to him, smiling.

“What are you thinking about?” Mic asked enthusiastically.

“I don’t know.” Aizawa put his head down. “I thinks it’s just...A little weird being in town like that, without a patrol or...A villain chase.” he scratched his arm.  
Hizashi nodded in agreement.

“It’s pretty nice, isn’t it?” Yamada smiled, leaning his neck against his hands. “A little peace after so many stressful days.”

“I agree.” Aizawa answered. “But it’s still pretty weird. It feels odd, like this isn’t a day of. Like something is about to happen and we are not even wearing our hero costumes.”

“You still have your tape-scarf.” Yamada noticed, pointing at Aziawa’s piece of clothing.

“Can you please stop calling it that?” Aizawa rolled his eyes.

“Sorry.” Mic laughed. “But besides that, our quirks still work, right? It’s true, our costumes help us with a lot of stuff. But at the same time, they are not necessary for us to take action, right?”

Hizashi looked at Shouta again, giving him a little arm-nudge.

“Oh, come on! Lighten up a little!”

Aizawa finally looked at him.

“Allow yourself to relax. Nothing is going to happen. Everything is fine.” Mic reassured him.

Aizawa looked at his drink, then at his friend, then at the sky, and then at his drink again.

Maybe Hizashi was right. Maybe he was worrying too much. Maybe having a day off wasn’t such a bad idea and it will actually help him mentally to relax once in a while.

“Maybe you’re right.”

He signed again and sucked ice tea with his tube, caughting an eye to the ground.

Hizashi was walking ahead, full of excitement, with blueberry cocktail in his hand and head up.

“We will have so much fun today! You will see!” He exclaimed with a laughter.

They were walking in silence for about two minutes.

Then, something changed.

Aizawa wasn’t able to explain it. He felt something in his chest. Some kind of worry...Anxiety?

He wasn’t fully sure what that was. It was a kind of feeling you were getting when the atmosphere was suddenly changed from peaceful and cheerful, to tense and narrow. Like you knew something bad was going to happen, despite not having future vision.

He looked around, looking for something, but wasn’t exactly sure what that was.

His weird act caught Yamada’s attention. The blonde came closer to him and put a hand on his arm.

“Hey, Shouta. Is everything okay?” he asked softly.

“Do you feel that too?” Aizawa looked him. Mic followed his gaze.

“What do you mean?” He crossed arms in surprise.

Aizawa turned around.

“I don’t know.” He put a hand on his forehead. “It’s like…” He didn’t finish the sentence, as he looked at the sky.  
Was it getting...darker? No...Impossible. It was barely 2 a.m. And it also didn’t look like a rain cloud.

Hizashi followed his sight, looking as confused as the black haired man.

“What’s happening?” the blonde asked, as he looked at his equally knocked from the lead friend.

Aizawa just threw up his arms.

“Hell if I know.”

It looked like the clouds were coming together, as the sky was getting darker and darker with each second. At this moment civilians realized what was happening. They stopped whatever they were doing and in one moment looked at the sky as well.

Mic approached Aizawa.

“Is that a villain attack?” He asked with a voice full of concern.

“Could be. Be ready. We might have to fight.”

Both of them stood in their fighting poses.

In one moment, a big, bright light appeared at the sky. For a moment it reminded them of a laser. Maybe not the one young Aoyama had. That one was different, much bigger and brighter and it was extending itself to all sides. Almost like a broken star or even a broken sun.

The thing was lighting so bright, it almost blinded them. Both heroes started tearing up and were forced to cover their eyes.

After that, the light seemed to be getting smaller.

In a few second, instead of lighting scratches, they saw a whole, forming into something smaller. Perhaps a circle? It looked like a circle. A big, white circle, drawn into the blue sky.

Right! The blue colour came back! That's good, right?

“If it’s a villain attack, it’s one of the very weird ones.” Hizashi commented in his battle pose.

Aizawa was observing every bit of this weird looking sky.

Then, something caught Hizashi’s eyes.

Something...No...Someone….

A figure. A very tiny figure in the distance. He was convinced they fell out from the circle. It was just a moment, but Hizashi could see it was a person.

“Is that a person?!” Mic cried out without a deep thought. Although it was more of a statement, than a question.

It didn’t took long for Aizawa to react and immediately get into action. He used every inch of his body and took his whole energy to get to whoever this person was as soon as possible. With a speed like that, that fall would certainly end up in death. There was no way he was going to allow anybody to die.

Mic reacted not even half a second later, following Aizawa with as big speed as his.

They managed to get closer.

Aizawa pulled out his scarf and caught the falling person by the leg. It was more than sure that she or he were unconscious.

“I got him!” Aizawa exclaimed. “Quickly! Catch him before the impact will damage his neck!”

Without answering, Mic jumped high and caught the person, lifting them in bridal style. Both pro heroes, with the victim they rescued, landed on the ground, gasping for air.

Aizawa took a closer look at the person, who turned to be a boy and also...Younger than he expected.

A student? And those facial features...He was definitely not japanese…

“It’s a teenager.” Hizashi almost gasped, worry painted across his face.

Aizawa clenched his teeth and let out air from his lungs. He was already biting his lips.

“I’m calling the ambulance.” He stood up and pulled out his phone. He was already hearing police sirens in the distance.

Mic was observing him, while clinching the teenager in his arms. He was unconscious and very sweaty. He also looked very tired and was gasping for air. His whole face was red. Something happened to him. Was he running earlier? Did somebody hurt him?

Well, at least he wasn’t bleeding. And he was alive.

Bigger crowd of people started surrounding the three of them. Some of them were taking photos and recording videos.

There was no chance of a peaceful afternoon now, was it?

***  
When Peter woke up, he involuntarily got up, gasping for air. He caused the machines, to which he was attached to, go crazy.

Wait...Machines? Why was he…

He looked around. It didn’t look like the Avengers Tower. No...It most certainly wasn’t the Avengers tower.

He could see a view from the window. It wasn’t the view he recognized from any of the tower’s windows. But it was possible that maybe he wasn’t getting a hold of a lot of details after...Well...That happened…

What happened anyway? Where was he?

He remembered the bright light and pushing Mr. Stark out of the way, but that was it.

He looked around.

He had bandages on his arms and he was covered in white sheets.

The room had white walls and a lot of empty beds. Was he in a hospital?

Oh God, did the impact was really that bad? If so, what happened to Mr. Star? Doctor Banner? Doctor Liv? Was anybody else hurt? Were Morgan and Mrs. Potts okay? Mrs. Danvers?

He leaned his head against bed’s backrest. His breathing was suddenly faster. He quickly wrapped his arms around himself.

Was this panic attack? No...It couldn’t be...He got a hold of it already. It was just him being nervous, right? It had to be it. God, he hoped so.

He looked at the ceiling. Was anybody here?

He almost signed in relief when he heard the door being open.

A nurse walked in. She was blonde and she looked rather young. From her facial features he deduced she was most likely japanese.

He didn’t knew her, but he felt much calmer now, when he wasn’t alone anymore.

“Hello.” Was the first thing he said to her. He wasn’t sure what was he supposed to say exactly, so he just went automatically, just like Aunt May taught him.

Always be nice, especially to people to wants to help you.

The nurse looked at him and smiled.

“Hello.” She said in english, with a clear japanese accent.

“W-What happened?” Peter asked, putting his hands against his forehead. “Is everyone else okay?” He followed with another question very quickly.

If he was in a hospital because of the explosion in a lab, then there is a great risk everybody else are hurt too. He just hoped...God, so much hoped, that it wasn’t worse case than his.

But to his surprise, the nurse looked at him in confusion.

“Well, you were the only person from that weird light to be transported to the hospital if that’s what you mean.” She said, not sure if that was an answer he expected.

Peter looked at her with million questions drawing inside his eyes.

“What?” He breathed. “What light?”

“There was a really big light coming from the sky in central city.” The blonde explained. “It created a hole. And it seems like you were falling from it. Two pro heroes saved you and called an ambulance.”

Peter sat quietly for a moment. He needed a second to take it all in.

Light? Falling? Pro heroes? What even is a pro hero?

“What?” Was the only thing he managed to put his thoughts into words. There were just too many of them.

The nurse came closer to his bed.

“Do you remember anything?” She asked. “Is there anyone we can call?”

Oh God, Aunt May! She must be worried sick! Just when the dramatic events with Mysterio ended. God dammit....

“Well-” He wanted to say, but was quickly interrupted by another voice.

It was a male voice. Whoever was behind it, he was speaking english as well. Peter noticed japanese accent, but the pronunciation was much better than with a nurse.

He looked up to see a tall, black-haired man with beige coat and hat. Right behind him were three people. Two of them had police uniforms. The third and the closest one to black-haired man was a person with...A dog...Face?

Now Peter was more confused than ever.

Was he high? Did the light drugged him somehow? Was he daydreaming? Why in the hell did that man had a dog face?

He delicately pulled nurse’s sleeve. She slowly turned to him.

“Are you seeing a dog too?” He asked with a whisper, not sure if he sounded funny or just concerned.

She looked at him with pure desorientation.

“Yes?” She asked with clear confusion in her voice. Peter could tell that she was more surprised about the question, than the dog himself.

To his relief, the dog-man haven’t heard a thing.

“Good afternoon.” Said the black-haired man, bowing his head first towards the nurse, then towards Peter. “My name is Tsukauchi Naomasa, I’m a detective working with the police. This is Kenji Tsuragame.” He pointed at the dog-man. “Chief of the Police department. We are here to ask you few questions.”

Peter straightened up on his bed.

“Is Mr. Stark okay?” He asked almost immediately. If they were from the police, the must have known something. “And Doctor Banner and Liv? Are they here too?”

Detective Naomasa and Mr. Tsuragame looked at one another.

“They were with me in the lab.” Peter explained. “Were they hurt like me? Are they in a hospital too?”

“You were the only one transported to the hospital.” Naomasa came closer to his bed. “That’s why we wanted to ask some questions. That light...It looked really similar to the villain's quirk we were tracking down a month ago. He vanished without a sign. Do you know anything about it?”

Peter looked at him for a solid five seconds, analysing every word the men just said.

“Quirk?” He asked. He figured it will be good to start with something he didn't understand.

“That’s right.” Naomasa confirmed, although his answer didn’t clarify anything at all.

Peter signed and thought for a moment, covering his mouth with his fingers.

“You mean...Special characteristic?” Peter tried to investigate, with an unsure smile. Naomasa looked at the dog-man clearly confused. The only word that came to his mind after hearing “quirk” was another word “quirky”. He thought that maybe the detective didn’t knew the english translation for “special characteristic” and used other word instead. He had no idea what else it might have meant.

“Special characteristic of who?” Naomasa asked, narrowing his sight.

“Well, you said ‘quirk’” Peter explained. “In english, there’s a word ‘quirky’ which basically means-”

“No, no. I know what it means.” Naomasa interrupted. His eyes, now filled with pure confusion, looked at him from head to toe. “You don’t know what ‘quirk’ is?”

Peter shook his head.

“Should I?” He asked shyly.

Naomasa came closer to his bed.

“Do you remember anything at all? Tell me exactly what happened.” He said, his voice filled with a little bit of suspicion.

Peter started to think again. What could he say to not give too much information? Not only about him, but also about Mr. Stark and Doctor Liv as well. He wasn’t sure how much information he was allowed to give away.

“Well, so…” He started and held his breath for a second. “I’m an intern at Stark internship.” Okay, that’s a good start. “And Mr. Stark had a guest. And that guest, her name was Lilly Liv I think” He noticed one of the police officers making notes. “Uh, she was showing us her invention. And that invention pretty much blew up. The laser was coming for Mr. Stark, but I pushed him out of the way.” at that moment he moved his arms, copying the movement he used in that situation.

Naomasa nodded.

“Where was this whole…’Stark internship’?” He asked.

Peter looked at him. Wasn’t it obvious?

“At Avengers Tower.” He said in a tone like he just answered very easy question.

“All right.” Naomasa said, while writing something in his notebook. “Do you know the address?”

Now Peter was more than surprised. Avengers Tower is the most known building in America and they didn’t know the address? Actually, they acted like they heard about this for the first time in their lives, which was also really weird. As the police, considering all the alien attacks, million attempts to take over the world by some maniacs and of course 5 years after Thanos, they should know everything about it by now.

Despite that, Peter still answered. Although uncertainty was growing wider inside his heart.

“It’s a high rise building towering over Manhattan located at 200 Park Avenue.”

In that moment Naomasa stopped writing and looked at Peter. His expression was trying to tell a lot of things. But for Peter it was certain that the man was more confused than before, maybe even shocked.

What happened? Did he said something wrong?”

“Kid.” Said Naomasa, while looking at the dog-man. “The address you just gave us is in America.”

Now Peter was confused.

“Well, yeah.” He said unsurely, but surprisingly without a single doubt in his words.

Naomasa gave the notebook back to the dog-man.

“Kid, do you know where you are right now?”

Peter didn’t answer, letting the saliva flow down his throat.

“We are in Japan. More specifically in Musutafu, near Tokyo.”

Peter was still quiet. But in that moment his eyes suddenly grew wider, as he squeezed his quilt. He was looking at the men for a minute, before he finally choked out loud ‘What’ filled with obvious panic in his voice.

“What do you mean in Japan? When did I- How did I-” He grabbed his head with his hands. “What- How- What-” He was stuttering.

He saw Detective Naomasa reaching to him, probably to calm him down, but before he could have done anything Peter overwhelmed him with more questions.

“Wait, are the others here too? No, they can’t be... You said I was the only one...Then wait! Where are they?! Maybe the came off from another side- Another light? Oh God I can’t be in Japan. May will be worried again. Oh my god, what do I-”

“Hey” He felt Tsukauchi’s hand touching his shoulder. “Calm down, it’s okay.”

Peter took a deep breath.

“That’s right. Breathe.” He turned his sight to one of the police officers. “Please, call the nurse.”

Police officer nodded and left the room.

“I’m sorry.” Peter said immediately and lied his head back on the pillow, covering his eyes. “It’s just...I’m always causing people trouble. I’m afraid my aunt will be worried again.”

“We can try to call her. Do you know her number?” Tsukauchi said, more confidently, making sure the teenager won’t be stressed again.

“Yes. Yes of course!” Peter got up again and straightened up. He quickly told the detective May’s number and observed as the man wrote it down on a piece of paper.

The door were opened suddenly, and the same blonde nurse Peter recognized from before walked into the room.

“I’m sorry to say this, but the boy will need to rest right now.” She said softly.  
Naomasa nodded and got up from the bed.

“One more thing.” Said Naomasa. “Besides your documents and the red costume you had under your clothes paramedics also found-”

“It’s a cosplay.” Peter called completely panicked. Naomasa looked at him, surprised. “For comic con.” Peter claryfied.

Moment of silence.

“Okay?” Naomasa answered, confusion not leaving his voice. “Um, as I was saying. Besides that they found that weird machine. It looks like a black, metallic box. Is it yours?”

Oh, he was talking about the intergalactic translator Peter got from Mrs. Danvers. But why wasn’t he interested in the suit? Well, it is Japan after all. Maybe he’s not as popular here as he was in America.

“Oh, it’s actually uh...My...My aunt’s!” He said, trying to sound confident. “It something like...Uh...It’s actually…” Come one, say something. You can’t sound suspicious. “I actually don’t know what that is.”

Bravo. Beautiful statement. Now you are definitely suspicious.

“She gave it to me so I can figure it out.”

God, I suck at excuses. How did I kept my secret identity again?

“I mean. It’s kind of obvious.” MJ’s voice played in his head.

Oh yeah, I didn’t.

The detective was definitely suspecting something. But at that moment he just nodded.

“If you would like to share anything else.” He put a small piece of paper in beige colour on the cabinet next to Peter’s bed. “This is my number. If I won’t pick up, I will definitely call back.”

He slowly opened the door and left the room.

Peter lied in his hospital bed, covering his eyes again. He looked like a student beat up after hard exercise during PE.

“Is everything alright?” The nurse asked him.

Peter looked at the woman standing above him, once again not knowing what to answer.

“No.” He said quietly with a sign.

***  
“How is he?” Aizawa asked, as soon as Tsukauchi left the room

The man looked at him for a moment, then sighed and shrugged.

"His condition is stable," he said. He heard Aizawa let out a sigh of relief.

“How did the interrogation went?” Aizawa looked at him with concerned look.

Tsukauchi shrugged again.

“I’m not sure.” He said. Disappointment was heareble in his voice.

Aizawa, who till this moment had been leaning against the wall, straightened up and came closer to the detective.  
Tsukauchi crossed his arms on his chest.

“I learned very little.The kid said he’s a part of some kind of internship in a building he called ‘Avengers Tower’. I’ll google it, but to be completely honest, I’m hearing about this place for the first time in my life.” He pulled out a notebook from his pocket. “Plus, a woman named Lilly Liv was presenting some kind of invention during said internship. It’s explosion is the last thing that boy remembers. If he’s telling the truth, that was most likely the reason he’s in a hospital.”

Kenji, who just finished talking to the doctor, telling him to call if something suspicious will happen, came closer to both men.

“We’ll be heading for the exit detective.” He said to Tsukauchi, putting his hand on his arm. Tsukauchi nodded.

He and Aizawa observed as the police officers disappeared into the depths of the hall. When they were out of sight, the detective continued.

“That’s not all.” he said, but this time whispering a little. “He said this whole ‘Avengers Tower’ is placed in America.When I told him we were in Japan he started to panic. He was in severe shock.”

This time it was Tsukauchi who leaned against the wall. Aizawa joined him a moment later.

“You don’t buy this story?” Pro hero has spoken, sounding like he already knows detective’s answer.

Tsukauchi turned to his side.

“I don’t think he’s lying” he said. “But he’s definitely not telling the whole truth. I don’t want to say there’s something wrong with him, but I’m a little worried about some of his reactions ” He tilted his head back slightly. “Confusion, not knowing where you are. It could have been a shock after an accident. But he didn’t know what ‘quirk’ is.”

Aizawa thought for a moment, putting a finger to his lips. He exhaled through his nose

“Maybe he hit his head and the effects are showing?” he noticed, but Tsukauchi almost immediately shook his head.

“Doctors say he didn't have any serious injuries other than few bruises on his arms.” He explained “That’s why the situation is so weird.”

Both of them stayed silent for more than two minutes.

“That light” Tsukauchi spoke again “Was too similar to the quirk belonging to a villain we tried to track down a month ago. I think it’s not an accident.”

“You think the kid is involved in this?”

  
Silence again. Tsukauchi signed.

“I wish I could say no. But unfortunately it’s very probable.”

The phone in Aizawa’s pocket suddenly buzzed. He quickly took it out of his pocket, thinking it might be Kayama who wanted to arrange a pick-up time for Eri. But to his disappointment it it was just Hizashi, asking about the state of a teenager they saved. He also asked how long it will take before he comes back.

“It’s Yamada” signed Aizawa. “I should probably go.”

“I understand.” Tsukauchi nodded.

He shook Aizawa’s hand.

“What’s your plan?” Aizawa asked.

Naomasa put the notebook back in the pocket of his jacket.

“I’ll leave him alone for today.” he said. “I’ll call the number he gave me and google places he told me about. Tomorrow I’ll try talking to him one more time. We’ll see what will come out of this.”

Aizawa shook his head. Both of them headed into opposite directions.

Aizawa was checking his phone, when suddenly he felt something hitting his arm. When he looked ahead, he realized it was a woman who was currently looking for her glasses on the floor.

She had long, wavy hair and and she was dressed in a purple, tight T-shirt and black jeans. The whole clothing was covered by white smock. His first though was that a doctor bumped into him. But the woman didn’t have any badge, so he couldn’t tell for 100 %.

He quickly kneeled on the floor and handed her glasses she was looking for.

“I’m really sorry” He said involuntarily, ignoring the fact that she was the one who bumped into him. On the other hand, he didn’t have to check his phone while he was walking.

Dark haired woman smiled at him and took the glasses he was holding.

“Thank you” She said, and just seconds later she got up. She dusted her smock lightly .”But you don’t have to apologise. It was my fault. I should have been more careful.”

She put on her glasses and walked down the hall. Aizawa looked at her, then turned away, pointing himself towards the exit. Mic probably got impatient.

Aizawa thought that it was the best option for Mic to stay outside. Police didn’t like too many uninitiated people around victims they were supposed to interrogate. Especially when said person was very loud and asked too many questions. He knew that if he was to find out anything, he had to go to Naomasa alone. And even tho he wasn’t exactly satisfied with what he learned, he still thought he made the right decision.

The woman in the smock continued to walk down the hall, looking like someone to whom everything belongs. Her brown eyes were burning with confidence and determination. The echo of her heels hitting the floor bounced against the walls.

After walking a dozen or so steps, she finally managed to get to the counter where a young woman sat behind a glass window.

“Good morning” the brunette said, as the younger lady looked up to her. “I’m looking for a teenager. His name is Peter Parker. I heard he was transported here today.”

The woman behind the window looked through some files.

“That’s correct.” She confirmed her words. The brunette smirked under her nose.

“Splendid! Which room? I really need to see him.”

“I’m sorry, but only family members are allowed.”

The smile on woman’s face grew wider.

“That’s good.” she said, pressing her ID against the window and tossing some other documents under it. “Because I am his family.”

***  
It was a really lovely afternoon.

The sun was shining brightly. You could hear birds singing and wind playing with trees. Flowers’ smell was a really amazing addition as well.

Perfect day to go swimming, play basketball or perhaps get some ice cream.

Well, not for Bakusquad.

Unfortunately most of them (not everyone, because Bakugo and Kirishima were currently training together) not only had to finish homework, but also improve the test next week AND finish the project (which they could have done a long time ago, but decided to do it last minute. IT’S FINE THEY CAN DO IT IT’S OKAY).

In short, Kaminari, Mina and Sero were left alone to somehow comprehend material.

Which of course was meant to fail, because all three of them shared the exact same brain cell.

Oh, how they wished they could be anywhere else now.

Mina rested her head against her hand and sighed heavily.

“Am I boring you Mina?” Said Kaminari, almost offended. He was in the middle of explaining ‘A Farewell to Arms’ by Ernest Hemingway. He might have not understand a lot of things when it came to math or physics. But literature was his subject. He loved talking about it and share his thoughts, but unfortunately he didn’t have a lot occasions for that. That’s why when one came, he was so full of passion. But as much as it was amazing for him, his friends seemed to be getting sleepy when passion was running through his lungs.

Mina looked at him.

“No no.” She straightened up on her chair. “It’s just...I’m really tired. I don’t think my brain can take more information than it already got.”

“Were you even listening to me?” Kaminari crossed his arms.

Mina was silent for a moment.

“...Yes?”

“Okay.” Kaminari came closer to her desk. “What was the name of an english volunteer, which Friedrick Henry met at the beginning of the story?”

Silence again.

Sero looked at her, equally tired but much more awake.

“Uhhh…” Mina struggled. “Kateline?”

Kaminari shook his head.

“Catherine.” He signed. “Catherine Barkley.”

Mina leaned against the chair.

“Uhhhh…”

“Can’t we continue this tomorrow?” Sero asked. “Or at least take a break?”

Kaminari signed again and put english translations of ‘A Farewell to Arms’ on the desk.

“We can’t do it tomorrow” He protested. “We have three days to learn every detail about this book. Not to mention we were supposed to take care of the project tomorrow.”

“Correction” Mina interrupted. “WE, meaning me and Sero, have three days to learn every detail about this book. You already read it like five times. Two times in english.”

“How are you even able to do that?” Sero gasped.

Kaminari drew few circles with his right leg on the floor.

“We had to know this book by hear in middle school.” Kaminari smiled. “But I ended up falling in love with the story. You should too, it’s a great book.”

He picked up the book again and put it on Sero’s desk.

He started to explain main issues of the plot and million reasons why it’s better to read it in original language. Then Mina’s phone suddenly vibrated.

She picked it up and looked at the screen.

After few seconds, she gasped with excitement.

“Hey guys!” she exclaimed in the middle of the Kaminari’s lecture. “I think you should check this out!”

She showed them whatever she was reading on her phone.

Mina’s friend send her a message.

“Hey, aren’t they your teachers?”

Right under it was a link to the an article.

The title said: “Big light in central city. Teenager saved by two pro heroes.”

“No way.” Sero brought the phone closer to himself. “It’s from today?”

“Yep!” Mina exclaimed enthusiastically.

“Is this Eraserhead!” Kaminari cried out. Mina shook her head. “Wait, who is that blond next to him?”

“It’s Present Mic idiot.” Mina laughed.

“Wait, really?” Kaminari started to study the photo closer. “Oh my God, I am definitely not used to seeing him in civilian clothes.

“And without tons of gel in his hair.” Sero added. All three of them laughed.

“Nice to know they had an interesting day.” Mina leaned against the chair again. “Unlike us.”

“If you read the book, the lecture wouldn’t be that boring trust me.” Kaminari talked back.

Sero put the phone down.

“Mr. Aizawa will be angry.” He said, as he lied his head on the desk. “As far as I know, he doesn’t like fame.”

Mina looked at him.

“Oh, come one. He’s a pro hero. It’s his job. I’m sure he’s well aware of the media following their every step.” She waved her hand.

Kaminari took the book in his hands again.

“Okay, that’s amazing, but can we please go back to the book?” He wasn’t gonna give up that easily when it came to talking about literature.

Both Sero and Mina signed deeply.

“Yeah okay.”

***

When the nurse left the room, Peter was lying in is bed, trying to make sense of the situation he was in. With every second more and more questions were running through his head.

First, where was he?

In a hospital, obviously. And now he also knows that he’s in Japan, Tokyo. Not a really good news, but it was better than knowing nothing.

He also found out that he was the only one transported to the hospital. He could only hope that Mr. Stark and the others were okay.

He narrowed his eyes, watching the ceiling.

He started to think about what Doctor Liv told him in the lab. About entering the quantum realm without actually entering it. About ‘observing’ alternate timelines.  
Is it connected to his situation? Or maybe perhaps the machine worked a little bit differently than she originally explained.

He wondered if it was just some kind of teleportation machine. But if that was the case, then when in hell did that police officer had a dog face? Or more importantly, why wasn’t it a surprise for the nurse?

He tried to organize his thoughts in his head.

After all, he lives in a world where alien attacks or attempts to take over the world by killer robots are slowly becoming daily basics. Is dog head on a police officer really that weird?

Okay, if he’s still in his world, just transported into Japan, then why did the police officers knew nothing about the Avengers?

He came back to his previous thoughts.

It’s Japan. Maybe they are not as popular here as they are in America.

He got up and sat on his bed, observing the pale light from the lamp on the ceiling.

He brought his knees up to his chest and hugged himself. He started to breathe slowly.

He really wanted to call Aunt May and tell her that he’s okay. That he’ll be back in no time.

He wondered where she was right now. Probably making supper or taking care of taxes. He missed her smile. And he wished she could just hug him and tell him that everything will be okay. Just like she used to do when he had nightmares as a little boy.

“Aunt May? When will mommy and daddy come home?”

He suddenly jerked off at the sound of the door being open. Someone came inside.

It took him a moment, only a moment to look at her and only a second to lose the whole breath in his body.

She had long, wavy, brown hair and glasses, and she was wearing tight, purple t-shirt with black jeans, covered by white smock.

He squeezed his mattress.

“May?!” He gasped. The woman smiled at him and gave a look to the blonde nurse standing behind her.

“Can I please have a moment with him?” She asked. The nurse nodded and left the room.

Peter quickly straightened up, his eyes growing bigger and wider.

“Hello.” Her voice was very smooth and delicate, just like his aunt’s. He felt relief. He didn’t expect it to be that big in his heart. She was here, she was really here. And she wasn’t crying or panicking. Did Mr. Stark brought her here?

But something was wrong. Why WASN’T she panicking? Normally, when he was in a hospital, she would run to him, hug him tightly and start to cry. But she didn’t.

She was just standing there, so calm, looking almost delighted.

And as far as he was really happy to see her, he could see it wasn’t normal.

“You’re awfully quiet.” She walked closer to his bed. “Peter Parker, right?”

He was looking at her face. It was his aunt’s face. It was definitely his aunt’s face, but with much less wrinkles. She was also wearing different glasses. And why was she wearing a smock?

No, more importantly, why did she asked about his name like she was trying to confirm his identity? Something was just not right.

“May, what’s going on?” Peter finally choked out. The woman smiled again.

“Good to know you can talk.” She laughed and bent down, grabbing something from the floor. She quickly set a large bag on the bed. From the way she was lifting it, Peter could tell it was a little heavy.

“What is this?” He asked.

May sat on the bed.

“Your stuff. You know, documents, that weird costume you called cosplay, the black-box machine. It’s all here.”

Peter looked inside to confirm her words. Everything was indeed inside.

“Your clothes are inside as well.” May said, as she got up from his bed. “Dress up. We’re going.”

Peter was silent for a moment, observing the woman getting up and walking to the door. He was trying to settle everything he just heard in his brain. After a few seconds he realized he can’t just let her go.

No, he knew too little.

“Wait!” He called to her. The woman who looked like May turned to him. “Going where?”  
She grabbed the door frame.

“I talked to the doctor.” She answered him. “You don’t have any serious injuries that needs special medical examination. So I’m pretty much allowed to take you home.”

Peter swallowed saliva. He was equally confused and nervous.

“Home?”

The woman nodded.

“I know you’re shocked.” She assured him. “But trust me, if somebody can help you, it’s me. So hurry up. I’ll wait in the hall.”

And with that she left the room, leaving Peter with a bag.

What am I supposed to do?

***  
At the end, he decided to dress up in his old clothes and follow her lead.

As weird as the situation was, it was really nice to finally see a familiar face. Even if that face didn’t recognize him the way he wanted to. And to his surprise, he as well, didn’t recognize her the way he wanted to.

Of course, she looked like Aunt May, but something was just...Really off about her. He wasn’t sure what that was. There was just something really cold, really weird behind her eyes. When he was with his May, he always felt the warmth of safety coming from her. With that woman he felt nothing but pure anxiety. Like he wasn’t supposed to meet her, but he did anyway.

But, it seems like maybe she knows what’s going on.

“If somebody can help you, it’s me.”

If there’s even a small chance that she knows what happened to him and can possibly bring him home, it was worth a try. At least he was moving somewhere. It was something.

He dusted off his hoodie and took the bag with his costume, documents and intergalactic translator inside. After hung it on his back, he finally walked through the door.

“Finally.” The woman said, getting up from the bench she was sitting on. He wasn’t sure what to call her. Simply calling her ‘May’ didn’t sit right with him, because she certainly wasn’t her. Or at least, she didn’t act like her. But what if he was wrong?

Maybe it was some kind of an undercover mission? Maybe that hospital is actually some kind of building full of experiences on humans, and everyone is watching them? What if she’s acting like this on purpose?

“Took you long enough.” She gave him a small smile. How was he supposed to call her, if she wasn’t his May? “Come on, let’s go.”

She started to walk down the hall, Peter followed her without a word.

Nobody was looking at them or seemed to be observing them.

They went down the stairs and briskly stepped outside.

They walked across the courtyard for a while, then entered the parking lot where a big red car was waiting for them. Peter recognized it was a lamborghini. He was a little shocked. He saw a few in Avengers Tower, but he was more than sure that May never in her life owned a car like that.

May clicked the button on her car keys. Car’s lights flashed before them. May opened the door on the drivers’ side and sat inside.

Peter stood there, frozen.

“You coming or not?” She called out to him through the window. Peter unfroze himself from temporary shock and quickly ran to the car.

He opened the door and sat next to her. The car was very clean and well-kept. He could smell cherries.

May turned the ignition key. Peter heard the engine starting and after a dozen or so seconds they were on their way.

Peter leaned back on the seat and watched the view through the window. It was the first time he was in Japan. And it was beautiful. The sights were much different from Queens. The streets were full of glazed buildings, transparent banners and lights. They seemed much cleaner and much more lively too. There were many words on banners written in Japanese, and all kinds of people. From human-looking, to animal looking. Peter couldn’t take his eyes off what was happening behind the glass.

“Can you talk?” His fun connected to observing the sights was suddenly stopped. Peter turned to May, who was still looking at the road.

“Yes.” He answered shyly. “Sorry, it’s just...The view, it’s really beautiful. So different from Queens.”

May narrowed her eyes.

“Good. Do you know who I am?”

Peter thought for a moment.

What did she mean exactly?

“Of course.” He said. “You’re May Parker, my Aunt and legal guardian.”

May suddenly made a very weird sound. It sounded like a cough, fused with a laugh of disbelief. Like she just heard a really bad, cringy joke.

“Parker?” She asked much more cheerful, with a really big disbelief in her voice.

Peter lightly nodded.

“Oh my God!” She called, now laughing for sure. “Why?”

He looked at her, not knowing what to answer.

“Oh, you know. Why did I changed it for ‘Parker’?” She was still laughing. “Did I marry one of the Parker boys?”

He suddenly straigned up.

Parker boys? Did she meant his father and his uncle?

“Parker boys?” He asked.

May turned to him.

“Ben and Richard Parker I mean.” She clarified.

Okay, so...He was definitely in an alternate universe. Suspicion turned to fact, now he was sure.

“Yes, you married Ben Park-” She started to laugh harder before he could finish the sentence. “Why are you laughing?” He asked.

“Oh, it nothing.” She wiped a tear from her right cheek. “It’s just...This is so unbelievable. Me, of all people, to marry Ben Parker. That is just…” She breathed. “Ridiculous.”

He looked at her in confusion.

“You don’t like him in this world?”

She finally stop giggling, but the smile was officially marked to her face.

“I mean, I don’t hate him.” She said very confidently. “But let’s just say he’s definitely not the person I see myself spending the rest of my life with. I could see Mary do that. But me, no way.” She waved her hand with a giggle.

Peter was suddenly overwhelmed with millions of sudden thoughts. Right now his mind stopped, when he heard this name.

Mary

God. Oh my God, could it be? Was his mother alive in this world? And his father? And Ben? Was Ben alive here? He had to know.

“Wait.” Peter touched his wrists. “Are you saying that Mary, your sister, is alive in this world? And Ben Parker? And Richard Parker?” He looked at her, with eyes begging for answers.

She turned to him in surprise, probably not expecting that kind of question.

“Well, Mary and Ben are.” She answered. “I work with them actually...Well, with Mary mostly, Ben just kind of...Tagged along. It’s a long story.” She waved her hand again.

Peter was still looking at her.

“And Richard?” The woman signed. Her eyes suddenly became sadder. Like she was looking at a really tragic, distant memory.

“Yeah, he’s dead. Died in a car accident four years ago.” She said very quickly, with even sadder voice.

Peter lowered his head.

“Oh.” Maybe it’ll be better to cut the talk. From her reaction, he concluded it was touchy subject.

He didn’t know why he felt bad about it though. It’s not like he knew his father. He died too early to be set in his memory the way Ben and May were, and yet...It still felt awful knowing that he was dead in here too. Why did it felt awful?

She turned her gaze back to him.

“So…” Apparently, she wanted to continue the conversation. “In you world I’m married to Ben and my sister is married to Ben’s little brother, Richard? Man, the weddings must have been interesting.” The humor came back to the conversation. Peter smiled.

“Yeah, it was actually a running joke in our family.” Peter laughed. “Aunt May told me your mather called you ‘team siblings”.

May smiled again. “Yeah, that’s her all right.”

They were driving in silence for a moment.

“You asked me if they are alive in here.” May turned to him again. “Does that mean they are...You know…In your world...”

He returned her gaze, looking sadder now. “Dead?” He finished her sentence. She nodded in silence. “Yeah…”

“Is it okay if I ask what happened to them?”

Peter let the oxygen in and out slowly, filling his lungs with it.

He tried to calm his nerves and bring in thoughts, so he won’t start crying when he starts to talk about it.

No that the thought about it, he never actually saw a professional psychologist after Ben’s accident. May as well. But it might have been because at that time they just couldn’t afford it. But still, even now with Mr.s Stark’s care, he never actually asked about it. He wondered if that’s the reason for his nightmares. Bottling up his feeling like that...It was hard.

He signed.

“Mary and Richard died in a plane crash when I was three.” He finally started to talk. “Ben was shot in the chest by a robber and bleed out in my arms. Not too long ago, when I was fourteen.” He didn’t even noticed when he started to breathe more heavily. Also, it was really weird calling his parents and uncle by their names.

May looked at him with what appeared to be a pity. He hated that look, especially when it was coming from his aunt’s face. Alternative version or not.

“I’m really sorry. I’m guessing it wasn’t easy for you.” Her voice became softer. Coldness he felt before wasn’t that noticeable anymore.

Peter didn’t answer and sat in silence for a moment. He thought he already moved on from all this stuff. Turned out it was still bothering him, even after all this time.

“You and Ben practically raised me.” Peter broke the silence, feeling like he should explain the whole situation. She looked at him again. “You were actually more of a parents to me than my biological ones.”

This time she didn’t answer. She let oxygen fill her lungs and then let it out slowly. After those simple gestures she nodded.

“Wow.” She said. “I was a mom? That’s just...I can’t really imagine it.”

Peter smiled. “I can.” For some reason a weird warmth was running through his heart and for a moment he felt like he was actually talking to his version of May.

Suddenly, realization came to him.

“Wait.” He exclaimed a little louder than before. “How did you know your sister was married to Richard Parker?”

Smile returned to May’s face.

“I know that you’re their son.” She smirked. “It’s part of the reason why you’re here.”

He started to struggle with his sit belt, suspicion coming back to his head. What does that mean?

She quickly realized she shouldn’t have said that.

“I don’t understand.” He was more confused than before.

May straightened up in her sit and gripped the steering wheel harder.

“Okay.” She exhaled, losing the grip a little.” I guess now that we’re together, you could use some some explanation.” She had to change the subject quickly. To her relief, Peter went along.

“Please” Peter’s eyes were shining. He will finally know something.

May took a deep breath.

“Okay.” She started. “So, let’s starts from the beginning. As you probably already noticed, this is not your world. It’s an alternative universe, where most of the population is born with superpowers they call ‘quirks’.”

“Wait, ‘most of the population’?” Peter interrupted her.

May lowered her gaze.

“That’s right.” She nodded. “It’s daily basis here. Being born quirkless is considered disability.”

Peter put a finger to his chin. He thought for a moment.

“So...Almost every person on earth, accept a few, have powers?”

May nodded again.

“Yes. In your world they...Don’t?” She wondered.

Peter hesitated.

“Well, I mean.” He bit his lip and started to drown in a sea of thoughts again. “There are mutants and inhumans, but they are actually...smaller part of society”

May returned her gaze to him once again. It was slowly becoming dangerous. She should be observing the road right now.

“You have powers though, right?” She asked him.

“Yes.” He nodded.

“So, are you a mutant or an inhuman?”

Peter jerked off.

“Oh, I’m neither.” He said, looking a little troubled. “I was actually born without powers, but radioactive spider bit me during a school trip.” He showed little scar on his wrist, looking like mini-vampire’s bite.

“Oh.” She returned to watching the road. “What’s the difference between them anyway?”

Peter tried to gather his thoughts to give as clear of an answer as possible.

“Well” He started. “Mutants possess a genetic trait called the X-gene, which causes a person to develop superhuman powers that manifest at puberty.” He stopped, to make sure he wasn't talking nonsense and that his every word is understandable enough. “Inhumans are people that are descendants of Kree’s experiments.”

Pause. May didn’t know what to say. It was the first time she heard of anything named “Kree”, whatever that was. Her world was definitely working on a different rules. Peter guessed she didn’t really understand what he just said, so he decided to continue and explain the subject further.

“Kree are aliens which invaded earth long time ago.” He said. “Capturing many humans and running experiments on them on their spaceships, mostly transfusing their blue blood into their organism. After the experiment, said humans were released to earth again and started to breed. Their descendants still have their blood. That blood is what creates powers. Inhumans can unlock them by going through the process of passing through the cocoon.”

May frowned and cleared her throat. She shook her head, trying to comprehend what she just heard.

“How does that work?” She finally choked out.

“An alien crystal has to be broken in front of you. Then, a cocoon grows around you, turning you into something like a stone statue. When you break the ‘stone’, you officially unlock your powers.”

May nodded and bit her lips.

“What if it’s broken in front of a human being that doesn’t have that blood?” She asked, looking more interested in the subject.

“They will die.” Peter answered without a flich. “Set in stone forever, unless someone breaks them and turns them into ash.”

May was silent for a moment.

“You seem to know a lot about this stuff.” She noticed.

Peter nodded again.

“They started to teach us this at school a while ago.” He explained.

“Yeah. Okay.” May vocalized, almost relieved that alien subject has ended. “So anyway,” She went on with the explanation again. “quirks manifested a long time ago, years before I was born. At the beginning there was a lot of chaos, but you know, years passed and whoever was in charge managed to establish rules regarding using them.”

“Why are they called ‘quirks’?” Peter interrupted again. He’s a curious kid, isn’t he?

“It’s from the word ‘quirky’ I believe.” Said May, not sure if it was the right answer or not.

Peter smiled.

“I knew it!” He straightened up on his sit again. “So, can you explain to me how did I got here?”

May took a breath again.

“To the hospital or this world in general?” She asked.

“Both answers please.”

She was silent for a few seconds.

“Well, as you probably heard from doctors, you fell in here through the white light in the sky. Two pro heroes saved you, but-”

“Wait, hold on. ‘Pro heroes’?” It was the second time he heard about this here. Was it a profession?

May paused again. She didn’t like being interrupted. And that kid was doing that for the fifth time already.

“Well, yeah.” She answered, slowly losing patience.

“Why are they called ‘pro heroes’? Is there a difference between them and normal heroes?”

Pause again.

“Normal? You mean vigilantes?” Her voice seemed to be calming down.

Peter’s eyes grew bigger.

“Vigilantes?” He breathed.

“Well, for starters vigilantes are using their powers illegally and without a licence-” She started to explain, but she was cut off shortly.

“You have to have a licence to be a hero?! It’s an actual job?!” Peter almost screamed. He was both surprised and excited.  
May tried to keep her nerves on a leash, but with each second her patience grew shorter.

“From your reaction I understand it works differently in your world.” She said, clenching her teeth. Like she was trying to calm herself down.

“I mean...There are heroes but…” Peter mumbled. “It’s not considered a job really. Unless you work for CIA or S.H.I.E.L.D. But it’s more of a nickname than a job I’d say.”

May’s attention was drawn to his words again.

“David Shield has a superhero organization in your world?” She asked with a surprise in her voice.

Peter looked at her, confused.

“Who- No!!” He quickly denied. “You know, S.H.I.E.L.D. Organization which stands for ‘Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division’. Created after World War II by Peggy Carter and Howard Stark. You really know nothing about it?” He looked at her with shocked expression. It was the first time in his life he talked to someone who knew nothing about S.H.I.E.L.D.

May tried to take it all in.

“I think we don’t have anything like this in our world.” She lowered her look. “Or at least, I’m not aware of that.”

“Wow..”

She signed again, not sure if she should continue or not. Well, she already explained how he got to the hospital. Might as well tell him why the pros were the ones to save him.

“Originally, I was supposed to be the one to pick you up after you’ve fallen through that portal.” She stated, drawing his attention again. “But for some reason the light appeared in a different place. I was really confused, because I was sure my calculations were right.” There was irritation in her voice. She clearly knew she failed the task. But she couldn’t let it be noticed. It was one mistake and the boy was okay. Let’s get on with that. “And scared as well” She admitted. “that you might have gotten hurt or something. Not that I was worried for you. But if you died, the project wouldn’t have worked” Peter felt dread running through his blood. It was really weird hearing May saying words like that. “Fortunately, pros were there. And this whole event was all over the internet, so...It wasn’t difficult to find you”

“So you knew I would be here.” Peter noticed.

May didn’t answer.

You’re already at this subject. He had to find out sooner or later.

“Of course I did.” She tried to sound confident.

“So you wanted me here? Why?”

She went silent again.

God, why can’t I just answer him normally?

Go on. Just don’t tell him too much.

“Soon I’ll explain everything to you.” She avoided clear answer. “But currently, you just need to know that you’re very important and needed, okay?”

Peter gave her suspicious gaze, but decided to let it go. He nodded slowly.

“You will sleep in my house today.” May continued. “Later you’ll be sleeping in dorms of a new school, specifically for superheroes-”

“THERE ARE SCHOOLS FOR SUPERHEROES HERE?!” Peter exclaimed with excitement, interrupting her again.

She finally lost it.

“HOW DO YOU THINK THEY GET LICENCES?!” She screamed, but after few seconds took a deep breath, hoping that she didn’t scare him. Fortunately, it looked like Peter though she was intimidating his ‘excitement brust’ and though it was funny. He giggled, while she calmed her nerves down. He might be irritating, but at least he’s adorable. “Anyway, you’ll be learning there.”

“Why?”

She bit her lips, but this time silence didn’t take too much time.

“So we don’t draw too much attention, obviously.” She sounded really sure of what she just said. “Nobody questions family with a kid in prestigious school for superheroes. Do you know how hard it was to get an exchange student invitation for you? God, the paperwork was a nightmare.”

“‘Draw attention’?” Peter repeated her words. Fortunately, he wasn’t asking too much questions about the school itself and why she chose specifically this one. Although she could just say that it was because that school was the best superhero school in Japan. Being respected wasn’t bringing too much suspicion, so it was perfect for alibi.

May rolled her eyes.

I was supposed to explain everything later.

“I’ll need you for some tests.” She finally gave him a little bit of further explanation. “And you have to know that they are not exactly...Legal…” She squeezed her legs tighter. “The L.A.B. is already at my back for last year experiences.” He heard her sigh “Nephew from America being an exchange student at superhero school is a good alibi. They won’t be asking too much questions, especially when you’ll be living somewhere else.”

“Tests?” He asked the first question that popped in his head,

She rolled her eyes again. Peter finally noticed how irritated she was. But this time, he actually wanted an answer. What was she talking about exactly?

“That’s what I will explain to you later.” She said. “They are harmless, don’t worry.”

Peter crossed his arms and leaned against chair’s back. He decided to ask her further questions later.

“So...You will use me for...Whatever you need me for.” He said. “And then what? I’m coming home?” He looked at her again, but she didn’t turned back.

She was silent again. He didn’t know why.

She tightened her grip on a wheel again and signed lightly. Was her mouth shivering?

“Yes, that’s the plan.” She said. He couldn’t get a hold of her voice. It sounded...Different. He didn’t know how to explain it but...It wasn’t the sound of irritation or coldness or even a neutral, normal voice. It was just…Different. He didn't know what emotion to attribute to it.

“How long it’ll take?” He asked.

“I’m not sure. Maybe few months-”

“FEW MONTHS?!” He exclaimed again, completely forgetting that he was supposed to not irritate her again. He quickly got a hold of his emotions. But to his relief, she actually didn’t seem to be irritated anymore.

“There’s no other way. I’m sorry.” She answered surprisingly calmly.

Peter turned away his gaze.

“Well, it’s better than nothing.” He tried his best to be calm as well. “At least I know I will come back at some point.”

She’s different in this world, but she’s still May. Maybe...Maybe I should try trusting her.

“Yeah” May breathed with a sighn. “We should be at my house in five minutes.”

***

Fifteen minute has passed since they started their journey by car.

After driving through some empty, elegant streets, they finally drove into a nook and cranny leading to a much quieter neighborhood. There were many houses with gardens, and it seemed that with each passing kilometer they grew more and more lavishly decorated and richer. At least that's how Peter felt it.

He felt like he was on a very expensive vacation.

Few more kilometers by car passed.

Finally, a ginormous house in modern style showed right before his eyes, as they entered the parking next to the courtyard with a huge conservatory and what appeared to be a small greenhouse.

The house looked like it was made of giant bricks stacked on top of one another. On the right side there were about three white colored bricks decorated with glass windows. Each block was probably one separate floor. Right next to it there was one longer block with a lot of windows from top to bottom in brown colour and with enter door. Three more blocks in white colour were placed on the left side. Those last three, apart from windows, also had a big garage doors. It took Peter a second to finally notice roof. It wasn’t there, Instead, there was a long, glassy handrail around it. He could swear he saw a pool as well.

He was completely stunned. The house looked like a hotel. He observed it with eyes and mouth wide open.

May stopped the car and opened the door.

“We’re here” She announced, as she entered her garden, full of blue and red flowers. Peter quickly followed her lead.

“Wait, wait, wait, you live here?!” He exclaimed with a gasp. May smiled. “Oh my God! This is not a house! This is a hotel! A palace even! What-”

She pressed a button on a small, navy, blue remote. The red stone above the front door made a high-pitched noise. Peter almost jumped when he heard that.

Ah, she must’ve turned off the alarm.

He watched as May stuffed the key into the keyhole in house’s enter door and twisted it. They both went inside, greeted by the sound of a little bell.

To his surprise, the inside seemed to be rather old-fashioned. Of course, he couldn't see the whole interior yet, but he did noticed a lot of old furniture and an almost Victorian-style setting.

However, he did not complain. Even though he loved the modern style, he found it quite cold and dingy in itself. The old fashioned style felt warmer and made it feel more at home. At that moment he thought that May in this world had a really good taste.

He couldn’t tell what would his May prefer. Most of the things in their new apartment were settled by Mr. Stark. And because it was his surprise, she didn’t have a lot to say about surroundings. She didn’t complain though. Quite the opposite, she loved it! Maybe she prefered modern style.

“Oh my god!” Peter couldn’t hide his excitement. “Oh my God, this place is huuge!”

May laughed and started to look through her phone.

Any new messages? Oh, there is one.

“Is it your house?” Peter asked.

May looked up, hearing his voice.

“Partly.” She said. “It belongs to my parents. Me and Mary were raised here. But since they swam away for longer vacation on Maldives,they ‘borrowed’ it to us so we could build a bigger lab and possibly work from home more often. The lab is in basement by the way.”

Peter swayed slightly while standing.

“What about mo- Uhm, Mary. Is she gonna be here too?”

May hung her coat on a hanger

“Soon.” She answered with neutral voice. “She’s currently doing a project in America. I’m not sure when she’ll be back. But she said she trusts me with you.”

Peter nodded, trying to do everything not to look troubled.

He did a little pirouette in the air to draw away attention from his expression and with that jumped to the next room. May put her bag on the sofa and followed him slowly. “Is that the ice-cream machine?!” He quickly ran to the medium, metallic box. “It is!”

May leaned against the wall and smiled again.

“Enjoy it while you can.” She tossed him an ice cream cone. He grabbed it without single hesitation. “Remember, you’re here for only one night. Tomorrow you’ll be living in dorms”

“Yeah, I know I know.” Peter said, pouring pink ice cream into the cone. He licked it with enjoyment. “This stuff is just-”

He was quickly cut off as May put something against his neck. From the shape it looked like a pistol. Or more specifically, a fusion of pistol and a needle. Some kind of shots technology? She clicked and suddenly he felt an awful pain.

“Ouch!” Peter grabbed his neck and looked her in disbelief, being careful to not drop his ice cream. She didn’t even flinch, while looking at something in her documents.”

He patted his neck.

“That hurt.” He said in disappointed tone, as he licked his ice cream again. “What was that?”

“What do you think?” May looked at him. “A tracking chip. I have to have an eye on you. And know where you are at all times. It will be difficult when you’ll be living in dorms.”

She left the room. Peter stood there in silence but quickly ran after her.

“Hey wait!”

She already entered the living room. In a few seconds he was right next to her. But before he could say anything, she handed him something. A phone. But he didn’t recognize the mark.

“This is your phone.” May tap a finger to the screen. ”My number is already saved. You also have a really cool app my good friend programmed. It has all sorts of maps, bus and train routes and names of the places in a whole Japan. This way you won’t get lost during your introductory tour through the town.” She tossed him hoodie he just removed. “Plus, you have the chip. Have fun.” She patted his back and moved to the kitchen again.

Peter stood there frozen, but quickly ran to her.

“Wait, first of all, a chip? Seriously?” She looked at him, while drinking water from the glass. “Sorry, I probably should have told you. Kind of a habit of mine. My bad.”

Habit?!

“Second: ‘introductory tour’?” He waved his hands in the air. “What does that even mean?”

She put away her glass.

“You need to know your surroundings. There’s a train station nearby. The app I told you about will help you, It’s called ‘The track’ by the way.” She poured another glass of water. “Want some?” Peter shook his head. “Plus” she continued, putting away the bottle and lifting the glass. “you need to be out of the house for a few hours. I’ll have a guest and he prefers to talk while nobody is home, so…” She took a big sip of water. “Damn, I was thirsty.” She whispered to herself. “I hope you understand.” She put away her glass again, took the documents from the counter and left to the living room again. Peter followed her once more.

“And what am I supposed to do exactly?” He sprinted to her side. She turned her gaze to him.

“I don’t know.” She shrugged. “Explore, make friends. Think of something.” She grabbed an apple from the basket near sofa and bit it. “Just come back before 7 p.m. and we’ll be good. If you get lost, I’ll track your location. The chip is basically unremovable. Unless I’ll take it down of course.”

He froze again.

“What about the language?” He crossed his arms. “I don’t know japanese”

“So use your intergalactic translator?”

He untied his hands and looked at her with his mouth almost open, as if he wanted to say something, but the words suddenly escaped his throat.

“How did you-” He tried to tell, but was cut off quickly.

“Oh please, I’m a scientist. You really think we don’t have something like this in our world?”

Peter stood there frozen.

Well yeah, but this is an alien tech.

May turned right and started to walk upstairs. When she was half way through, she threw something metal at the teenager. After a moment, he noticed it were keys. Thank God he had spider senses, otherwise it would hurt.

“Home-keys.” May explained.

“Wait!” He called out to her, before she entered second floor. She looked at him, stopping at the last stair. “How are you supposed to run tests when I won’t be even living with you?”

She smiled again and pointed at her watch.

“Your chip.” She said. “Apart from the location, it will also give me your condition showed on this watch and my computer upstairs. That’s enough for now. If I’ll need you for something else, I’ll inform you, don’t worry.” She gave him smile for reassurance.

He nodded unsurely, as she entered second floor.

He looked at the exit door and then at the keys.

“So...Train station.” He signed.

But first things first, the translator.

He walked up to the sofa and opened the bag. Inside he saw an envelope.

Did May put it in there when he wasn’t looking? Wow, she’s fast.

There was a text written on the envelope:

“Peter, here is some money in case you got hungry in town. Have fun!  
~May Fitzpatrick”

Peter smiled.

Fitzpatrick, huh?

***  
May heard the door being open and closed. Peter finally left.

She let out a breath of relief and went back to organizing her paperwork. When everything was settled, she walked back downstairs to the kitchen, in order to make some tea and maybe get some cookies out of the cupboard

The tea in elegant cups and a plate full of strawberry cookies were placed on a silver tray. She transported them to the living room and put them on the coffee table. Right after that she came back to the kitchen and wiped countertop.

Twenty or thirty minutes on the clock were gone already, hand of a clock was moving faster and faster. The ring bell went off.

She quickly ran to the door and opened it.

“Hi.” A tall figure appeared before her eyes. She said that with a smile, but a quite forced voice of excitement at the same time. Like she was trying to read a text from a drama-club script and she was failing miserably. May did not wanted to talk to him. But she knew she had to. Otherwise, he wouldn’t left her alone. All right, it was now or never. Just don’t be nervous. “It’s really nice to see you again.” She smiled, as she greeted him inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading :)  
> I’m sorry, not much happened in this chapter. Story’s introduction is a real pain.  
> Don’t worry though, the next one will be more interesting. It will include Tony’s panic over Peter’s disappearance, Peter meeting someone interesting in the city and of course, Peter’s first day at UA!  
> I really hope updates won’t take too long. Once again, if there are any mistakes I’m sorry. Like I said earlier, english is not my first language, so feel free to point them out :)  
> Also, I wouldn’t be myself if I didn’t add “Agents of shield” reference. Anybody watches that show? It’s amazing, I really recommend it.  
> Love you all!  
> Till next time ^^


	3. First meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While May is talking to her mystery guest, Bruce and Tony are put under medical care. Peter comes across some very interesting people at the park. What could happen?

The dust finally settled to the floor, restoring visibility to the eye. The frighteningly high-pitched noise from the explosion still rang in Tony's ears.

He was lying on the cold floor, his head hurt like somebody was drilling a hole in his brain a moment ago. He touched it’s top. He saw blood on his hand. He panicked a little

_I'm still conscious and I'm not throwing up yet._ He thought _So it can't be THAT bad._

He took a deep breath to calm his nerves.  


His sight was still blurry, but he managed to see another lying figure in the distance.

_ Peter? _ Tony panicked again.

He narrowed his eyes and took a deep breath. God, his head hurted very badly.

He bit his lips strongly and began his journey through getting up. He rested his hands on the floor and slowly began to straighten his legs.The higher he was up, the more he felt how much he was wobbling. Like he was drunk. It took him three tries before he actually managed to stand.

As he took a few first steps, slowly getting closer to the figure a few inches from him, million thoughts and worries were running around his mind.

_ Peter. Oh God, please please be okay. _

The last thing he remembered was cradling the boy in his arms. His scream, his fear. The way he grabbed his head. He was thinking about the way Peter’s head leaned against his chest. Peter looked so small, like a child woken up after a terrible nightmare or a little kid who badly scraped his knees, asking his parents to make everything okay.

And Tony wished he could, wished he could just take all the pain away.

Wished he could just take Peter away from the danger, reassure him, tell him he will protect him no matter what. And yet he couldn’t do it...He couldn't say it the way he wanted to. Just like when he lost him to Thanos for five years...

He was always thinking about him. He knew it when he decided to build a quantum machine to bring him back, he knew it when he cleared his name when Mysterio attacked and he knew it when he allowed him to go back to Avengers Tower for Stark internship.

But what now? Did he really endangered him right after he got him back?

He always seemed so happy when he was building with him, bombarding him with questions, talking about newest movies or how the patrol went. Little things like falling asleep in the lab, morning tea or eating Thai food together. It made him happy. It made both of them happy. And he thought that maybe, just maybe...It could stay like that forever.

But Thanos happened, Mysterio happened and suddenly everything was different.

Peter was still excited about building new tech and improving his suit and yet he wasn’t smiling anymore as much as he used to. He didn’t want to talk about movies or subjects unrelated to the topic. Tony noticed it, Pepper noticed it, Happy and Rhodey noticed it. Everybody noticed it.  


Tony knew he wanted his smile back, regretted every time he told him to stop talking about pop culture references.

He kneeled before the figure lying on the floor. And he knew he shouldn’t, but he felt himself sighing in relief when he realized it wasn't Peter.  


“Bruce?” He patted his friends' arm and coughed, still feeling dust in his lungs.

Bruce made a painful throat noise and slowly turned his head towards his best friend. Tony gave him his hand and helped him stand.

Both of them made a huge struggle to get up. When they finally succeeded, they suddenly felt all of their bones crumbling (at least that’s how it felt).

Everything hurted, like they were just hit by an avalanche. And maybe it was partly true.

Bruce propped himself up against one of the lab tables and took a few deep breaths.

“What the hell happened?” He finally choked out, but Tony wasn’t paying attention to him, clearly looking around instead. His eyes were landing on every detail in the lab, looking for something he couldn't get a hold of. Anxiety was slowly overtaking his expression.

“Where is Peter?” Tony almost gasped in a worried, shaky voice.

Bruce straightened up, now looking around the lab with him.

“Where is he?” Tony repeated his question more nervously.

Bruce suddenly froze and looked at him.

“Doctor Liv disappeared as well.” It was almost a whisper. Bruce was getting anxious as well.

Tony felt his eyes going blurry again. He leaned against the wall and felt his legs giving up.

_ No, no. Not yet. _

He grasped the top of the chair.

_ I can’t. I can’t go down yet. _

Bruce helped him hold his position. Both of them stood in silence for a moment until Tony started to scream.

“PETER!” he leaned against his Bruce’s shoulder. He sounded nervous, almost desperate. He just wanted to hear Peter's voice, reassure himself that his son-figure was okay. “PETER! IF YOU’RE HERE PLEASE TALK TO ME!” He felt his eyes getting wet.

The lab’s doors were suddenly opened. Two figures Tony couldn’t fully recognize because of the blurry eyes were standing in the doors' frame.

After looking at them for a few seconds, ginger and blonde hair color materialized in his eyes.

“What in the actual hell happened here?” The blonde figure exclaimed. Tony tried to keep fighting, but his legs completely lost their strength. He felt the parquetry of the cold floor again. Bruce wasn’t able to hold him anymore, losing strength himself.

“TONY!” The ginger figure shouted and started to run before Tony's eyes were shut completely.

***

The man walked past May in silence, not even looking at her. He started to walk with a quick step, looking around as if he was looking for something. She followed him with frustration.

“Do you want to sit down?” She asked. “I made tea ya know.”

He still didn’t bother to look at her, walking from room to room, catching every detail and studying every possible change in surroundings.

“It’s rude to just come into someone’s house and immediately act all suspicious.” she made sure to put a lot of melodish sarcasm into her voice. But he didn’t seem to pay attention. 

May finally lost her cool.

“Ben Parker, talk to me.” She said with a serious tone, crossing arms on her chest. Ben slowly turned around. “You’re in my house, you play by my rules.” She demanded with a cold gaze.  


Ben looked like he was in his early forties. He had brown, fluffy hair, thin brown stubble that covered half of his face and glasses. He was wearing casual clothes, with the addition of a leather jacket.

He looked at May in suspicion, waiting for her to reveal something before he starts talking.

“You wanted to talk to me.” She closed the still open entrance door. “So talk.”

Ben crossed his arms.

“You did it.” He frowned. “After so many reasonings and fights. After we agreed to resign from the project, you still did it.” Clear disappointment was hearable in his voice. May leaned against the wall.

“So no tea then?” She smirked.

Ben pinned his hand to the wall, right next to her head. Their faces were dangerously close to each other. May looked him in the eyes and blinked two times before speaking again.

“What?”

He looked at her, his anger slowly taking over. He looked like he was about to set the world on fire. Almost...But May knew he would never do that.

“You have no respect.” He hissed. “You broke our agreement. Where is he?”

She smiled.

“Where is who?” She glanced at him innocently. Ben punched the wall.

“Stop screwing with me, you know what I’m talking about.” He leaned closer. “The light, the portal, teenager falling from the sky. It’s all over the internet.”

She almost laughed, as she put her hand on Ben's chest and pushed him away stronger than he expected. She started to walk towards the living room. He followed her there, noticing the silver tray with tea and cookies on it. 

She leaned down to pour one of the glasses.

“This world is full of people with crazy quirks.” She sipped her tea. It was bitterly sweet. Perfect. “That portal could have been anything. Maybe it was that guy from League of Villains, who knows.” She shrugged her shoulders as she lifted her tea higher.

Ben clenched his fists.

“You’re going to regret this when the L.A.B. finds out.” He came closer and forced her to put down her glass on the coffee table. “Last time you got away because of the influence you had on the chief's daughter. But there will be no one to save you this time, you understand? You can have serious legal problems.”

She smiled again and shed her long, dark hair on her right shoulder.

“I really don’t know what you’re talking about.” She smirked again. “I didn’t do anything.”

Ben clenched his teeth. She could swear she just heard his blood boiling. 

She shook her head and came closer, holding onto his shirt.

“Plus, let’s say that hypothetically you would be right. What will you do?” She looked him in the eyes. Tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife. “As far as I remember, you were a big part of the project as well. Your little ‘disagreement’ was just that. Just a disagreement. I particularly do not remember you writing it down and tearing apart rest of the documents.” She let go of his shirt. “So if I go down, you will too.”

He took a step back.

“Where is he?” He returned her gaze, not giving up. May almost giggled.

“Where’s who?” She smiled sarcastically. They were going back to the same questions and answers, he knew that.  


Ben grabbed her shoulders and pinned her to the wall once again.

“Do you think this is a goddamn joke?” Their noses were almost sticking. She bit her lips and to his surprise, leaned closer.

“What do  _ you _ think?” 

He looked at her terrifying expression. He wasn’t able to describe it. She was smiling, but something about her face was so disturbing, for some reason he couldn’t bare to look her in the eyes anymore. It was...Unsettling.  


“What if I will just call the police and ask them to look?” He was still holding her arms, but he stepped back a few centimeters.

She giggled again.

“Hilarious.” She twisted her jaw. “And what will you tell them? ‘I decided to look through my ex partner’s house, based on a suspicion that she wanted to bring a plan we both agreed on into action? I wanted to make sure that consequences will get to her, despite the fact that I was the main initiator of the whole idea? Please search her house without the warrant?’” She has not hesitated even once.

He hated to admit it, but she was right. Last time he tried to involve the police, it didn’t end up well for him. Did he really want to take a risk, when he didn’t have enough proof?

There was silence for a moment, cut short by the ring bell.

Ben turned to the door in seconds.

“Miss Fitzpatrick?” The man behind the door called. “I have a package for you.”

The ring bell rang again. May licked her lips.

“I should go get it.” She said delicately and ran her finger through Ben’s cheek. He flinched and quickly let her go.

She looked at him, as she patted her shoulders, still leaned against the wall.

“You’re stronger.” She whipped something from her cheek. “Did you hit the gym lately?”

He didn’t answer.

Ben looked at her as she walked to the door.

“Do you want to talk about anything else?” May asked, putting her hand on the doorknob. “We have time.”

She didn’t hear his reaction again, so she decided just open the door.

Postman was standing on the porch with a big, bright smile.

“This is for you madam.” He handed her the package and showed the list he was holding. “You just need to sign here and here.” He gave her a yellow pen with a rubber duck on the top.

“Oh, thank you.” She began to fill the paper with ink, smiling broadly. “Your pen is so adorable.”

Ben tried to make sense from what just happened. What was she doing? Was she seducing him? No, stop it, it couldn’t be it...Then what was...that? What was that weird act?

He dropped his hands down and walked towards the open door. May looked at him, leaning against the frame.

“You’re leaving already?” She called to him.

Ben turned around.

“It’s not over.” He said quietly, lowering his head, trying to avoid her look. “This is not gonna end well, you’ll see.”. They kept their gazes for about five seconds. With that he turned around again and headed to the car.

May gave the list back to the postman.

“Is everything okay?” He asked.

She laughed through her nose and bowed slightly.

“At its best.”

***

Shouta, Aizawa, Emi and Kayama were walking through the halls of a big apartment, leading to Emi’s flat. Aizawa was holding Eri in his arms, while the little girl leaned her head against his chest, slightly dozing off, hugging mini-figures of Eraserhead and Present Mic to her stomach.

Kayama and Emi were walking next to each other. They recently finished their “moms day” at amusement park and decided to invite Shouta and Yamada for dinner. Aizawa probably missed Eri anyway. Plus, they heard Aizawa and Yamada’s day off didn’t turn out to be quite relaxing after all. With this whole light and teenager falling from the sky. They figured a nice dinner with friends could be a good finale for the evening.

Eri was almost asleep, which to be honest wasn’t a surprise. The whole day spent on walking around, playing games, spinning around on carousels, driving in little cars and eating sweets, even though it was fun, was very tiring as well. Especially for a girl who experienced something like this for the first time. Emotions of excitement probably drained energy from her whole body. Of course she had training in the form of a school festival, but it wasn’t the same. 

The adults were talking about some nonsense, trying to be as quiet as possible. Mission: Let Eri sleep.

Aizawa’s mind was still running around the teenager from afternoon. His condition and how weak he was when they caught him. So even though their current conversation didn't make any sense at all, he was happy they were talking about literally about anything else.  


But even the most fun, insignificant conversation one was could slowly become too long and too irritating. Seriously, how long can you talk about something so stupid?

“Can we please stop talking about this?” Aizawa groaned. “I’m getting really sick of this debate.” Mic leaned closer to him and held his hands together.

“Aw, come one!” The blonde exclaimed. “I really want to know the answer!”

Aizawa sighned and gave his best friend a judging look. Mic just smiled.

“Look, I am full of patience.” Aizawa siad. “but it has its limits too. One more question about milk and I’m gonna lose my marbles.”

Emi’s laugh played in the background. 

_ Oh great. _

Kayama was laughing too.

“I’m just saying,” Emi joined the conversation. _Of course she did_. “if they don’t use coloring to make blue milk, then what? I know it’s not blueberries.”

Aizawa sighned again. This conversation was not only getting irritating. It was getting more stupid with every second. That's right, it was stupid and useless. He felt like he was losing one braincell with every next word. Who cares about blue milk colouring this much anyway? 

Answer: People who have too much free time on their hands. The weird thing is, those people were grown adults and pro heroes. So where was that free time they used on research?

“You know that you can just look at the composition on the package, right?” Aizawa narrowed his eyes and lowered his head. A slight smile touched the corner of his mouth, when he realised Eri wasn’t sleeping, but listening to every word of their conversation instead. She was smiling and giggling a little. It made his heart melt.

“But it doesn’t say anything about how they colour it. I did my research.” Emi continued. Aizawa returned his gaze to her.

He looked at her in disbelief.

“Tell me, don’t you have anything better to do than doing research on a blue-coloured milk?” He shook his head. “Some cases, people to save?”

“I do it in my free time.” Emi threw her green hair back. “You would be surprised how many articles are on the subject.”

Aizawa looked at Eri again, giving her “Are you seeing who I have to put up with every day?” look, to which she answered with reassuring "Don't worry" smile.

“Do you have any other amazing subjects you want to talk about?” Aizawa returned to the conversation.

Emi laughed louder.  


“We are not leaving this!” She exclaimed with determination.

Mic came closer. _Amazing._  


“Sorry, but I’m with Emi on this one.” The blonde said. “How DO they colour that milk?”

Aizawa threw his head back and sighed loudly and deeply.

“Kayama, please tell them something.” He pleaded, but heard a grin instead.

“Guys, I’m telling you something.” She giggled.

Aizawa looked at her like she was a traitor, his eyes done with pretty much everything.

“Hilarious.” How did it happen, that on his only free day he has to put up with a bunch of extroverts who share one brain cell?

Eri suddenly raised up from Aizawa’s arms, leaning against his right shoulder.

“So, can I have this milk for lunch at school tomorrow, or not?” She looked at Hizashi. The conversation actually started when she asked about ‘magic blue milk’ in addition for lunch. She said everyone in her class already tried it at least once. That was the moment when Emi’s debate came in.

Speaking of Eri’s class, it was going better than Eraser expected. Of course, it was really difficult at the beginning, with her being really shy and quiet. And it was hard to blame her after everything she’s been through. But he was afraid she might be bullied because of that. After all, kids are really cruel these days. Aizawa knew that too well. He went as far as thinking about private lessons at home, but he didn’t want to take a chance of normal school life for her. She was kept locked her whole life. She needed that. Or at least a chance to try.  


After a long therapy and talking, making sure she finally felt truly safe, it looked like she was finally ready.. And to his relief, her class turned out to be full of charmingly good raised kids who didn’t look at their peers’ flaws, as much as they were just looking for someone to play with. After a few days, Eri was coming back home with a smile on her face. It made her father very happy. It was hard to refuse her anything, especially when she didn’t do that very often. She wasn’t used to asking for anything and expecting her request to be even considered. The fact that she was slowly getting into it meant a really good progress.

“Of course sweetheart.” Yamada smiled and pet her head. “Along with an apple and cookies of course.” 

“And a healthy sandwich.” Recalled Aizawa. “Do not forget about the sandwich.” 

“You want to give her alien milk for lunch?” Emi interrupted. Aizawa looked at Hizashi for help, but after a few seconds of his confused look he realised it won’t make sense.

“Emi, for the last time, aliens don’t exist.” Aizawa breathed, stating this sentence with a lot of irritation in his voice.

Emi frowned.

“So explain the explosion that caused quirks.” She raised her index finger. Aizawa signed (probably) for the 50th time today.

“It could have been just as simply failed lab experience. Read history books for once”

They stopped at the big, brown door with a wide smile drawn on it with white paint.

_ That's Emi for you. _

“I’m not giving up. Something is really fishy about this.” The big five walked inside Ms. Joke's flat. Aizawa delicately put Eri on the ground.

“You guys really have too much free time recently.” He commented. Emi wanted to add something, but was quickly cut off. Thank you Jesus.  


“Oh! Papa, I need to show you something!” Eri called and quickly ran to another room.  


Aizawa felt something in his chest.

_ Papa _

It wasn’t the first time when she called him that. Still, it felt so, so good to hear that. To know that this little girl he helped saving now sees him as an actual father. And every time he got confirmation of that fact, he felt much more proud. He was proud that he helped saving her, proud that he adopted her and proud that he was able to give her life she deserved. And it was getting better every day.

Of course it didn’t mean life was perfect. Nightmares were still active, memories remained. She’s still not fully recovered. But she’s getting better. And when she’s getting better, his heart’s getting warmer. And that was enough. Enough to keep him going, enough to have knowledge that he will never leave her side.  _ Ever. _

Suddenly his lips ran in two different directions.

“OMG! You’re smiling.” Kayama squealed.

Aizawa looked at her, but didn’t even try to change his expression.

“I’m just really glad we changed the subject.” He protested as she laughed.

“That reminds me.” Emi joined in. “I need to show you something.”

“Should I be scared?”

Emi walked over to the bag lying next to the entrance door. She opened it and pulled out something from inside.

Whatever it was, just looking at it felt disturbing. It had button eyes and a really ugly, black sweater. It looked like a marionette pulled out straight up from a horror movie.

“Look!” Emi exclaimed with excitement. “It's an Eraser plushie! I won this for you at amusement park!”

_ Eraser plushie? What kind of a horrible life experience did anybody who made this had? _

Yamada came closer to the three, with a book in his hand.

“Emi I need t- “ He cut off his sentence. “Holy Shit- Aizawa, what is this monstrosity?”

Aizawa had to discipline every existing nerve and muscle in his body to stop himself from laughing. Mic pretty much summed up all his current thoughts.

“Gh- Monstrosity?!” Emi almost screamed. Mic put his hands in a fighting position, probably being afraid of another laughter attack.

“Language Yamada.” Aizawa made sure to get the man’s attention. “Child is present.”

“It looks like personification of sadness and bitterness.” Mic commented despite Emi’s disappointed voice and Aizawa’s reproof. Emi just sighned.

"Well, at least they nailed the design.” Aizawa tried to cut the tension. Everyone looked at him.

“You know what-” Kayama started but was suddenly interrupted. Eri was sprinting towards them with something in her hand.

“Pappa look” She lifted up a piece of paper she was holding. “Teacher told me to draw symbols that inspire me.”

Aizawa took the paper from her and unrolled it.

“Inspire you huh?” He smiled.

Kayama and Emi looked at each other.

“Yamada, why don’t we choose noodles' flavors for dinner?” Kayama said. Yamada gave her understanding look and nodded.

“Oh! Good idea!” He answered excitedly.

“Yeah! I’m with you guys.” Emi followed them to the kitchen.  


All three of them disappeared behind the kitchen door.

Aizawa and Eri sat on the floor.

Shouta started to examine the drawing. It showed three symbols: the first one was green. At first glance he was sure it was a tree. But after looking at it he realized it was actually a piece of broccoli. The second one looked like a yellow circle with a lot of lines sticking from it. So definitely a sun. And the last one...He couldn’t really pin-point it. It was a square with something reminding him of tape drawn in the middle. It was really hard to guess what it was. A rubber perhaps?

“Do those symbols have any meaning?” He already knew the answer. But he also knew that Eri really enjoyed explaining stuff to him. 

Eri smiled and leaned her head against his arm.

“Yes!” She nodded. “They symbolize people who inspire me!”

He looked at the picture again.

“So...Let me guess…” He put a finger on a broccoli. “This one must be for young Midoriya?”

Eri nodded again and blushed slightly.

“He inspires you right?” Aizawa gave her a warm smile. Eri put her hands together.

“He's always so brave and he always has a smile on his face!” She said. “And Togata too! They are both my heroes!”

“So I understand this one if for Mirio.” He put a finger at the sun symbol. Eri nodded with a grin and leaned harder into his shoulder. Aizawa started to study the rubber sighn again. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t pinpoint it to anything. “Who’s this one though?” He looked at Eri. Her expression turned from smiling to confused.

“You really can't see?” She sounded lost.

Aizawa looked at the picture again and decided to give himself another shot. Maybe his first guess was right?

“Is it rubber?” He tried to guess.

“Dad! Not a rubber!” Eri shook her head. “An eraser!”

Aizawa suddenly froze, fire burning inside of his heart. Realization hit him harder than a pile of rocks.

“How about fire noodles?” He could hear Yamada’s voice in the background.

“Dude, you will literally die.” He heard someone who sounded a lot like Kayama answer the blonde.  


“I have a strong throat! Have you ever heard my screams?”

Aizawa looked at the picture, then at Eri, then at the picture again.

Usually it took more than everything to make him cry, even when he was using his quirk and his eyes were hurting like hell. Even so, here he was. Tearing up over three symbols on a piece of paper, drawn with colorful crayons by a child. What a twist of events.

“I love you so much, you know that?” He hugged the little girl to his chest, not too tightly, but just perfectly good to make her feel safe and loved.

“I love you too papa!” She hugged him back. “You know, Deku and Lemillion might be my heroes. But you are not only that. You are also my dad! Only you are able to be both!”

And suddenly, Aizawa felt like crying again.

“Awww” Hizashi ruined the moment. Father-daughter duo looked at him with very different expressions. Kayama decided to bust into the scene as well.

“Eraser, have you chosen flavor yet?” She handed him the restaurant menu. And she was smiling. So she was probably a witness too. “We’ll be ordering soon.”

He wanted to answer ‘no’ when the phone in his pocket started to ring.

Kayama looked at him. Aizawa looked at the screen.  


“I have to get this.” He explained, noticing Tsukauchi’s name. “Give me a moment.”

Aizawa moved a little away, to the side of the flat where Emi’s bedroom was placed. Kayama nodded, noticing it was indeed important. Mic decided to go back to Emi and finish the choosening. 

“Sure.” Kayama kneeled to Eri’s side, showing her the menu. “Eri, did you pick a flavor yet?”

Aizawa heard her mumbling something under her nose.

He also heard a part of Emi and Mic’ argument.

“I’m telling you for the last time, fire noodles is a no no.” Emi’s voice spoke. “How about cheesy ones?”

“I hate cheese!” Mic protested.

Aizawa picked up his phone.

“Tsukauchi?”

“Hey, do you have a moment?” He heard a familiar voice on the other side of the phone. Aizawa looked to his friends’ side.

“I just picked up Eri.” He said. “We will eat dinner soon. Is it something important?”

“It’s about the kid you and Yamada saved today.”

Aizawa froze and leaned against the wall.

“Well, what about him?” He asked, getting a little nervous. He heard a sighn on the other side of the phone.

“That ‘Avengers Tower’ he was talking about?” Tsukauchi started. “It doesn’t exist. Instead, in the place of the address he gave me, there is a fashion company with a completely different name, run by someone named Sam Wilson. And it’s not even a tower! It’s like...An office building. ”

Aizawa straightened up. His attention was now fully stolen by the detective.

“Anything else?” He asked.

“Oh, you bet.” Tsukauchi nodded on the other side. “Nobody named Lilly Liv shows up in the database. But wait, there’s more.” He cut off for a moment, but after a few seconds came back on the line. “That Tony Stark who supposedly ran Stark internship at Avengers Tower has been dead for nearly seven years. He used to be an engineer of some kind, who dreamed about being a hero. I think he was somehow connected to David Shield. Anyway, he unfortunately had an accident with his yet to be tested by professionals armor and died tragically. It was a really big case at the time.”

“So everything the kid was saying was a lie?” Aizawa continued to question. This time Tsukauchi didn’t answer. 

“That’s what’s interesting.” He breathed out. “He wasn’t lying, my quirk would have caught that.”

_ Well, that’s definitely suspicious. _

“So he wasn’t lying, but people he was with are dead and places he talked about don’t exist? It doesn’t make any sense.” Aizawa stated, but Tsukauchi didn’t give in.

“I know.” He said, his voice full of confidence mixed with concern. “That’s why I’m calling you. I think he might have been hit by a memory-alternate quirk. That could explain why my quirk couldn’t feel the lie. It's like working with a lie detector. The more the brain believes that what it says is true, the less the body acts as if it is a lie. Of course it’s just a theory, but it’s not impossible.”

Aizawa stood there quietly for a few seconds, not sure what to answer. 

“So what’s the plan?” He asked instead. He wondered where the situation will place both of them. “You’re gonna investigate him tomorrow?”

“Right. I’ll inform you if anything new comes up.”

Silence again.

“Do you need any help?” Aizawa sounded worried. After all, the case turned out to be about more than just saving a teenager who fell from the sky. Deep down he suspected it would be like that. He heard Tsukauchi sighn again.

“If that’s not a problem, have you ever heard about Hikui accident by any chance?” He asked. That question set Aizawa right off the bat.

“No...Should I?” Tsukauchi heard confusion in his voice. And though he couldn’t check it directly, he knew the pro hero's emotion were authentic.  


“Well, if you find anything interesting about it, let me know okay?”

Aizawa hesitated.

“I...Will remember.”

Tsukauchi hung up. Aizawa stood without movement, completely confused. He didn’t know what to do.

_ What...Just happened?  _ He asked himself inside of his head.

“So Eraser. Have you chosen the flavor or not?” Kayam came over to him and handed him the menu.

Eri bounced right next to them.

“Can I have a unicorn pack?” Eri exclaimed, putting her hands in the air.

“There’s a unicorn pack?!” Mic said with excitement and took the menu, kneeling next to Eri. “Let me see!”

Kayama and Eri laughed together.

Aizawa smiled, forgetting about the call for a few seconds.

“I think I will have a cat-pack.” He decided with a smile.  


Hizashi looked at him and groaned.

“Oh my god! It's the fifth time this week!” He almost screamed. “Live a little!”

***

It’s been nearly forty minutes since he sat inside of that train. The train itself was really big and clean. Sits were much more comfortable than he expected them to be. Very big difference from metro he used to take in Queens. He leaned his head against the seat back and he looked away from the phone to admire the view. It was beautiful. The streets and small buildings were lightly fusing with green areas. He could see people taking walks, families with children and businessmen returning from work. Japan was beautiful.

Peter looked at the phone again, to make sure he’s not getting lost. 

_ I think I’m getting a hold of this app. _

Map on the screen showed him he was getting closer. He decided he will choose the central city. May told him to explore a little. So he might as well choose the most popular place. He heard it’s basically a kingdom of culture. 

The train stopped. He got out and jumped on the ground with a smile on his face.

Peter decided to think positively and make the most of his situation. It seemed like he wasn’t going back home soon. He won’t make it through if he keeps thinking about negative stuff.

He sighned.  _ This is gonna be hard. _

Despite being in a better mood, he was still worried. After all, Mr. Stark and Mr. Banner were in this lab with him. Doctor Liv too...What if they are here too and need help?

Although he doubted that was what happened. May told him he was the only one transported here. But if they stayed in New York, were they okay? Were they hurt? He wasn’t able to get rid of these thoughts.

His quiet thinking was suddenly cut off, when somebody bumped into him while walking through the park. He looked down in surprise. It was a little girl. She was looking straight at him. Her index finger was leaned against her chin. She stared at him with million questions across her face.

She was really short, from the looks she couldn’t be more than three or four years old.

She had big black eyes and long green hair braided in ponytails. She was wearing a blue dress with long sleeves and black shoes. She was looking at him for a few seconds, still not saying a word. 

“Hi.” Peter waved at her with a smile. She tilted her head slightly with the same questioning expression. “Are you okay?” He asked. She didn't answer. That’s when the realization hit him.

He was speaking english. She probably couldn’t understand him.

"Ah, right. Hang on a second.” He kneeled down and pulled out an intergalactic translator from his bag. After analyzing it for a few seconds, he finally managed to turn it on. 

_ I think Miss Carol was doing something like...This... _

“Is that better?” He spoke again. The girl looked at him in surprise and after a moment laughed and ran away. He wondered where her parents were.

Well, she didn’t look scared and definitely didn’t seem lost, so they must be close.

He started to walk again.

And after walking a few steps foreward, he saw a small stall where a friendly looking woman was selling...Well he wasn’t really sure what that was. It looked like fish, but by the smell he could tell it was something else. Some...Fish-looking cookies perhaps?

He came closer. The woman smiled at him.

“What will be for you son?” He understood her perfectly. He answered her with a smile.

“Two of those fish cookies please.” He pointed the two lying on the front.

She packed two of them and handed it to him.

“They are called ‘Taiyaki’” The woman laughed. “You’re new here?”

“Kind of.” Peter gave her money from May, not sure how much he’s supposed to pay. She gave him the rest. “I’m uh...And exchange student.”

She gave him another smile.

“Oh really? Where are you from?”

“Queens.” He took the first bite. It was good, very delicate and a little sweet. Did he feel the taste of beans? New taste and definitely interesting. “America.”

“Oh, I have a cousin in America.” The woman continued. “His name is Shinya. Maybe you’ve met him?”

“I doubt it.” He answered, finishing the cookie. 

The woman nodded. Peter hid in his pocket second Taiyaki. He stopped to look at whatever the rest of the people were looking at.

All of them were observing the big screen placed in the middle of the area. He walked closer to see what was played on it. He was two figures sitting inside what appeared to be a studio. One of them was a dark-haired woman with a hairstyle braided into a bun, dressed in elegant clothes. She was holding a microphone so she was most likely a journalist or the program host. She was talking to somebody else, a man. He looked very skinny, dressed in a black suit which, despite its small size, still seemed to be too big for him. He had short, combed-back hair with two thicker strands at the front, slightly hiding his black eyes.

“Mom! Look! It’s All Might!” One of the kids called. 

_ Is this one of the pro heroes May was talking about? _

“It’s been some time since you stopped being the symbol of peace” The host on the screen said. “Do you think other heroes are able to put up with the challenge?”

The blonde man smiled.

_ Symbol of peace? So is he a retired pro hero? _

“Well, I think they are just trying to do their job.” He said. “And obviously, it’s different from what I was doing. Because heroes are not the same, they save people following their own path, creating their own plans. They can be inspired by me, but the final act belongs to them. How they put up with it also belongs to them.”

Peter narrowed his eyes.

“What they need is fire. The fire of hope burning inside their hearts, telling them what’s right. So answering your question, I think they realized there is a challenge a long time ago. So as long as they have this fire, I think they are able to go through with it, in their own way.”

Peter nodded to himself. Whoever this man was, it seemed like he knew what he was talking about. It’s no surprise somebody like him was considered what they called ‘The symbol of peace.”

“So what about-” The woman started, but the sound was suddenly cut off. Something hit the screen. shattering it into million pieces. Peter quickly turned away. He was sure somebody just shot a fire ball.

And he was right. Someone was standing at another building. He couldn’t tell if that was a man or a woman. Whoever that was, they looked angry, with a lot of other fire balls flying around them in circles. 

They weren’t wearing a mask.. Their whole suit was black leather. Or at least it looked like leather. From this distance he could also see blond hair and some paint around their face.

The person jumped in the air and then started to fall down the building. Peter almost started to run to catch them, but as soon as the person jumped, they were on the ground, creating kind of an invisible force field, pushing everyone around, including Peter, in different directions. A hole has formed in the ground where they landed. Only then Peter could finally tell the gender. It was a woman.

She looked around at people standing a few inches from her. With a hostile look she fired another fire ball. People started to scream and run around. Peter quickly dodged one of the fire balls, but he wasn’t running. His hero-sense was kicking in. He didn’t have the suit though...Well, in this world people don’t know him and everybody has powers of some kind...So maybe seeing him fight won’t be that weird.

“It’s over!” The woman screamed, shooting fire balls at every side. “Show yourself Endeavor! Fight me!” She lowered her gaze, only now noticing that her hand was suddenly caught up with something white and sticky.

“Sorry, but not today!” He pulled the web to his side and spun the woman attached to it like on a carousel. The girl got a hold of the web and with anger rising inside of her, she burned it, fire touching Peter’s hand.

He let go after feeling prickly pain on his skin. The girl took the right position and looked at him with hostility.

“I didn’t come here to fight with YOU insect.” She hissed, as he dodged another fire ball.

“Spiders are arachnids actually.” He corrected her and smiled, which made her even more angry. Peter grabbed something heavy with the web (probably a screen fragment) lying on the floor and tried to hit her with it. Unfortunately, her reflexes turned out to be faster than he originally thought.

She started another series of attacks, this time a lot quicker, and Peter was dodging them like it was nothing. Frustration was rising in her heart.

He wanted to keep on fighting, so she won’t cause more damage to the surroundings. But suddenly something caught his attention.

A voice. His spider-sense was tickling. He looked around, still looking out for more attacks. That’s when he saw her.

A little green haired girl he saw before, crying and calling for help, hugging herself in the middle of the danger zone, sitting on the ground with an injured leg. Unfortunately, that caught villains’ attention as well. The blonde smirked under her nose and shot a fire ball right at the girl.

Sudden fear and anxiety got a hold of Peter’s heart and breath. He was sprinting faster than light to get to her. He quickly caught the girl by his web and pulled her to his side. She hugged him around the neck. He could hear her muffled sobs.

“Shh shh it’s okay, it’s okay.” He tried to reassure her, patting her back and hair. “You’re okay.”

The villain jumped into the air again and landed right in front of them, making another hole in the ground. Peter put the girl behind him, stretching out his arm in a protective position.

“You’re wasting my time.” The villain said. “I came here for Endeavor.” She folded her hand, preparing for another shot. “Looks like I’ll have to deal with you first. How unlucky.”

Peter turned away to protect the little girl. He wanted to quickly grab her and escape the blast, but before he was able to do anything, he heard a loud laugh...And a sudden rush of heat. He turned away to villain's side again. She was laughing hard, looking at someone else.

That person was standing just a few steps from him. Villain’s suit was slightly scratched and her skin was now full of burns. Did somebody just hurt her? 

He looked closer, Red-haired person she was laughing at was angry, and Peter could see really scary tension in his eyes.

He was wearing a tight navy blue suit with ornaments resembling a flame pattern. He also had a black belt with a gold clasp surrounding his belly. There was also something on his hands, something that looked like a huge silver wrist guards, along with black gloves. But what really brought Peter’s attention were his boots and his...Beard. 

That was the moment when Peter realized something. The ornaments resembling a flame pattern were actually….Not ornaments. This...was a fire, an actual fire coming out of his body, merging with his beard, which by the way, was also in flames! 

_ What?! _

And his boots were...Also on fire? No way! Was that a show off?

The man was very...How should he put it...He wasn’t exactly scary, but...There was something weirdly intimidating about him. Peter definitely wouldn’t want to mess with that guy.

The flaming man approached the villain.

“Leave them alone.” He demanded. “You want to fight with me.”

The villain stopped laughing for a moment and looked Endeavor dead in the eyes.

“Ohhhh? Or what?” Blonde's hands started flaming again. “Are you perhaps worried about them?” She shot another fireball at Peter and a little girl he was holding, before Endeavor could do anything. Peter quickly jumped with the girl in his arms and with the help of his web, he caught one of the lanterns and landed on the other side, between trees. He could swear he heard hero's sighn of relief.

“Go!” The flaming man screamed. 

Peter started to run. The girl clung to him and held his neck for dear life.

Peter wasn’t looking where he was running, he just wanted to save her. Make sure she’ll be at the safe side of the park soon. And he really hoped that side existed somewhere.

Not even a second later he heard another voice.

“Hey! Look out!” It was a male voice, sounding rather young, maybe even spoken by somebody his age. Well, he will have time to figure that out later. 

He quickly realized what the voice was warning him about. Another attack was flying to his side. He quickly fired his web, and flew into the air, dodging something that looked like a blue laser coming straight at him. As his web caught one of the buildings, he clung to the wall with his left hand and leg, holding the girl tightly by his right arm. He could feel how shaky she was.

Peter was observing his surroundings. What the hell attacked him just now?

He looked closer. Few other figures were approaching somebody, probably a person who warned him.

_ Robots?! You have got to be kidding me! _

Short robot, who looked a lot like a cheap, white, mannequin without a face, mixed with a vacuum cleaner, shot another laser at the boy who gave him warning. Peter wanted to react, but his hands were tied. He was clinging to the wall, while holding someone. He tried to think of something, when the laser came.

“No!” He almost screamed, but to his shock...The guy was completely okay...More than okay...His skin was different...Was it...Silver? His whole body turned into a living shield! He managed to cover himself from the laser. 

_ Did he just turn his skin into metal? _

After that, he dodged another laser, jumped in the air, and with his skin still hardened, he kicked the robot so hard, it’s head fell off.

“Woah! Did you just harden your skin with metal?!” Peter called out to him. At that moment he decided to get a closer look. The boy had hair with a very light colour. At first glance they seemed white, but after looking at them for more than a few seconds, one could tell that their shade was actually slightly blue. He also had quite large... No, huge, white eyeleshes, almost resembling a mask. In addition to his sharp-looking teeth, he looked like a really tough guy .

“Did you just do a wall cling?” The guy asked with visible shock. “And shot webs?!”

Peter came down, as more robots approached them. There were about five of them.

Light-haired guy looked at the girl Peter was holding in his arms, very scared and very little. Concern was running across his face. 

“What is this?” Peter asked, putting himself in a ‘ready to fight’ position.

The guy took a few steps back.

“A villain attack.” He explained. “Looks like the villain has a fire-connected quirk. Those robots are probably her back-up. Unfortunately, there is only one pro at the scene, and he’s currently fighting the main villain.”

_ So that leaves the robots to us? _   


“What do we do?” Peter looked at the light-haired guy. 

The guy took another few steps back and looked at Peter, his gaze still at the little girl.

“Do you have a hero licence?” He asked.

“The what?” Peter asked in surprise, but realization quickly hit his brain. 

_ Right, May did say something about it. _

“So you don’t have it.” The guy guessed, turning away. “Let me handle it then. And keep the girl away from the danger.”

“Are you sure this is-”

Another laser. Light haired guy jumped in front of Peter and a little girl, before the boy could even get a use of his spider sense, and protected them both with his silver body.  


“Go!” He screamed and this time Peter listened to him with no hesitation.

Peter was running as fast as he could. He tried to fight more robots on the way, but there were just too many of them. And he frightently felt like his spider-sense was about to fail him any moment. 

As he was still sprinting to find a way out, another robot blocked his path. He prepared himself for another blow, but something suddenly hit the machine.

A hand...No...A fist! A big fist hit the robot and sent him off, flying!

“Whoa” He whispered. 

Ginger-haired girl with a ponytail pinned to the side, dressed in a blue dress appeared right in front of him.

“Another pro came to the scene!” She called out to him. “Go! Take the girl and go!”

“What about the robots?” He called out in answer. “Do you need any help?”

“It’s okay. We will handle it.” She smiled.

Peter looked at her.

“We?”

Suddenly, wind around them became much stronger, blowing the rest of the robots out of the way. From the shadows another figure came in.

Another guy. He had blonde, maybe even little greenish hair that almost completely covered his forehead. He was dressed in a rather specific outfit, resembling a long, elegant suit with a light-blue tie.

He made his attacks with great determination, while looking extremely elegant. He attacked the enemy with the wind, using graceful movements. His gray eyes blazed with a fighting spirit. He looked super amazing.

“Ah yes. Here’s my lucky day.” The blonde said, while blowing off another pack of robots.

Peter was looking at him with amazement.

_ So cool and elegant. _

"What are you waiting for?!” The blonde screamed, bringing Peter back to reality. “Go! And let us handle it!”

Not even a second later another laser was shot at Peter’s side. Thankfully, his Peter-tingle worked perfectly this time.

“Look out!” Ginger-haired girl called to him nervously, but before she could do anything, Peter jumped high in the air and did a big backflip, while still holding onto the little girl. Before he landed, he caught the robot with his webs and took it into the air, smashing it into pieces against one of the trees.

When his feet finally touched the ground, he didn’t even look back and started to run.

The blonde guy and Ginger haired girl stood there for a moment, shocked in silence, but were quickly cut off by another laser-blast, which they managed to dodge. They quickly came back to fighting.

Peter was running again with the girl in his arms. 

“It’s okay.” He tried to reassure her. “You’re very brave, okay? Everything will be fine.”

He stopped very suddenly, as something...No, someone, landed on the ground. He had blonde hair but a little darker than the boy he met a few minutes ago, and a very light, small beard. He wore yellow goggles and a yellowish jacket with fur. But the most distinctive feature was ... the wings. Red wings!

_ Oh my god this guy has rad wings! _

He put himself in a fighting position, in case this was another villain.

“Hey, it’s okay.” The wingman spoke. “I’m a pro hero. And I was sended here to help you. Are you two injured?”

Peter heard himself sighning in relief.

“With me it’s just a few scratches. And I have a healing factor, so I’m gonna be okay” Peter took a deep breath. He looked exhausted from all the running. “I don’t know about the girl...She’s clearly scared and in shock...And I think I saw blood on her leg. I’m not sure if she can walk on her own.” 

The wingman looked at Peter from head to toe and nodded.

“Was anybody else with you?” He asked. Peter shook his head.

“There are kids about my age fighting robots somewhere out there. One of them told me to run, because I don’t have a licence. So I guess...They do?”

Hero nodded again.

“Then it’s probably U.A.” He said. “Thanks for telling me. Give me the girl.”

Peter handed him the girl. The man held her in bridal style.

“And you” He looked back at Peter. “Hold my neck.”

Peter wanted to ask why, but quickly figured it won’t make much sense to argue with an actual hero who has a licence.

He held the hero's neck and felt his feet being lifted up. Soon, all three of them were flying in the air. Peter observed the view in amazement.

“The girl has an injured leg. I’ll try to make contact with Endeavor.” Wingman said, as soon as they landed. They seemed to be somewhere on the medical side, because there were doctors, beds and first-aid-kits everywhere. “There might be more robots on the other side.”

He flew away.

Peter took the girl by the hand. Soon, one of the nurses came closer to them.

She looked at the girl first and laler at Peter. She checked them for injuries. After Peter told her he has a healing factor, she stated he’s going to be just fine. But the girl needed her leg bandaged.

“Do you need any help?” Peter asked. The woman smiled.

“It’s okay.” She said in a motherly tone. “Just take a girl and go sit over there. Somebody will come to you soon to clean and bandage her wound. Talk to her please, calm her down, reassure her. I think she’ll really need this right now.

Peter nodded. Both him and the girl sat on the ground, just a few steps from the place where they were dropped by the winged hero. Peter sat down next to her, making sure first that at least one nurse is nearby. At some point her leg was bandaged. Now he just needed to try his best at reassuring her.

“Hey, what’s your name?” He smiled at her, trying to follow the nurse's instructions. The girl didn’t answer. Peter thought for a moment.

“Do you remember me? I’m the boy you were observing before.” Still silence. She looked down, with hands on her knees.  


“Hey, don’t be afraid.” Peter smiled again.” Look. Do you want a...A…” He started to look through his pockets. “Uh...Fish cookie?” He showed her a piece of food.  


Sparkles suddenly appeared in her eyes.

_ Ah, good move. _

“You mean Taiyaki?” She grinned.

_ Right...That’s how they were called. _

“Uhhh...Sure” Peter tried not to sound awkward.

He was sure the girl started to warm up to him. She took the cookie from him and started to eat it. Looks like it tasted good for her.

“Is it good?” He asked.

“Setsuki.” The girl answered instead.

“Huh?”

“Setsuki.” She repeated.

“That’s your name?”

Setsuki nodded.

“Yes. My name is Setsuki Asui.” She revealed her full name.

“Setsuki...Well, that’s a really pretty name.” Peter brightened up even more.

Setsuki straightened up, leaning herself against the ground with her tiny hands.

“Mommy told me big sister Tsu chose it when I was in mommy’s belly.” She said with excitement. “It means “May””

Something warm moved inside of Peter’s sould. The girl was absolutely adorable.

“Oh really?” He almost laughed from adorableness. “That's so cool. You know, my aunt is actually named ‘May’ too. And she really loves it.”

More excitement came into Setsuki’s eyes.

“Is it because she was born in may?” She asked. Peter nodded.

"Exactly!” He exclaimed. “You’re really smart.”

He heard her giggle.

“You told me you have siblings.” Peter said. Setsuki nodded again. Her head was shaking in a funny, but a really cute way.

“Yes. Big sister and big brother!” She answered with even bigger smile than before.

“Cool. Your sister is named Tsu, right?” He asked. He remembered her talking about ‘Big sister Tsu’ choosing her name. “And your brother?”

She swallowed the last bit of Taiyaki.

“His name is Samidare.” She said. “And he’s a huge nerd.” She heard herself giggle again. “He loves playing video games and reading books. But he also draws really well! I love him because he always allows me to use his crayons!”

Peter smiled.

“Oh cool! And what is Tsu like?” He asked, now curious himself.

Setsuki inhaled.

“Tsu is the coolest sister ever!” She exclaimed, like she was talking about something really amazing. At that point her eyes were shining like stars. “She can cook and tell stories! And she has really good grades and she’s gonna be a superhero in the future! I want to be just like her when I grow up!”

Peter couldn’t hide his happiness anymore.

“Aww, that’s really sweet.” He held his hands together. “You know, I had an uncle.” He wasn’t sure why he was telling her this actually. But he guessed...he had such good memories with him...Maybe keeping those memories alive by sharing them with a scared, little girl who needed reassurance was a good thing. For the first time, he didn’t feel crumbling pain while talking about him. Good things needed to be shared, he thought. “His name was Ben.” He took a deep breath. “He also used to tell many amazing stories. And his pancakes were the best in the world. He was also an amazing mechanic. Every time he fixed the lamp in my room, I thought he was a wizard. And I wanted to be just like him when I grew up.”

_ "See peter? Let there be a light!” _

_ “You don’t have to be afraid of darkness. You’ll see when the time comes. Sometimes being able to walk in the dark might be more useful than being led by light that will go out soon.” _

“He’s a wizard?!” Setsuki squealed with excitement. “Can I meet him?”

A sad smile came to Peter’s face.

“Well, I don’t think that’s possible…” He sighned in a subdued tone. “He’s...Really far away right now…”

“Oh” Setsuki lowered her head. “that’s too bad. When will he be back?”

Peter bit his lips.

“I...I really wish I knew.” He sighned again. He wanted to add something, but another voice interrupted their little talk.

“Hey! You! Are you okay?” He heard a female voice behind him. He knew that voice.

He slowly got up to see a familiar ginger-haired figure running towards him. Behind her there were two other people. And yes, he saw them both as well. The blond one with a suit and a light-haired guy with long eyelashes. All three of them were here now.

“What is it?! Is the villain back?” Peter strained up in his fighting position.

“No no, he’s down.” Ginger-haired girl calmed him down. “Endevor and Hawks took care of him and the robots. Looks like we’re safe for now.”

Peter sighned in relief. It looked like the light-haired guy wanted to say something, but was quickly cut off by another voice.

“Oh baby!” A green haired, short woman with chubby cheeks exclaimed, running in panic towards them.

Setsuki stood up, and despite her bandaged leg, ran to the woman and hugged her tightly.

"Mommy!” She called. The woman started to sob.

“Oh baby...I told you to never run away like that.” She hugged her tighter. “Do you have any idea how scared I was?” She held the girl's arms and looked her in the eyes.

“It’s okay mommy! He saved me.” The girl pointed at Peter. The boy almost blushed.

“Thank you.” The woman got up and hugged Peter as well. Now he was definitely blushing. And he also felt a little uncomfortable. But he was glad both of them were safe and happy. "Thank you so much for saving my daughter.”

Peter nodded slowly and patted the woman's back.

“It’s...It’s nothing really.” He noticed the three teenagers who saved his life staring at him with three different expressions: excited, happy and purely confused.

“It is!” The woman pulled away and looked at him. “Trust me, it is!” Her eyes were still wet.  


“Well, I wouldn’t have made it if those three didn’t protect me and her.” Peter pointed at the teenagers, who looked just as perplexed as him. “And Hawks, he brought me and Setsuki to the medical side.”

“It’s nothing-” Ginger-haired girl tried to say, but was quickly cut off by another embrace. “Thank you! All three of you!” She began hugging the rest of them. “And I will share my opinion on Hawks on the internet.” She added as soon as she let go of the last person.”

“You never told me YOUR name” Setsuki joined into the conversation. Honest smile returned to Peter’s face, as he kneeled down next to her.

“Peter.” He shook lightly her little hand. It was so tiny, he held it with just two fingers. “Peter Parker”

She jumped in excitement.

“Thank you for saving me Peter Parker!” She hugged him and his heart melted.

Her mother took her by the hand.

“We will be heading home.” She stated.

“You should go to the hospital first.” Peter said, before they started to walk away. “Her leg was injured. They already stabilized it, but just in case-”

“I understand. Thank you.” The woman smiled at him.

Setsuki waved to all three of them before they disappeared behind trees. When they were out of their gaze, Peter turned away to the three teenagers, pouring out on them everything that so far poured into his chest.

“Okay, so now that this is over.” He started and took a deep breath. He got their attention.” OH MY GOD YOU WERE AMAZING OUT THERE. What did you do? You harden your skin right?” He came closer to the light-haired guy. He looked at Peter with a confused smile. “That is soooo cool! You can like...No gun is scary to you and you can survive a bomb blast! I mean...I mean can you?” He did a few moves with his hands. Then he turned to the ginger-haired girl. “And-And you! Oh my god how strong IS that fist of yours?” She wasn't sure how she’s supposed to answer that. Just in case, she took a few steps back, blushing. “Can you make every part of your body that big?! This is just- Oh! And you!” He turned away to the blonde guy. He crossed his arms and looked at Peter with a questionable expression, not sure if he should answer something or not. But just by looking at his eyes, you could say he was just as confused as the rest of the three, but somehow...Thrilled? Maybe even happy that someone is giving him attention. “I never met anyone with air powers! The way you just swung that robot! You were like hush and then boom and then trak and then-” He did another set of moves with his hands. “And you were so elegant and like- I just-”

“Hey, hey. Slow down-” Ginger-haired girl interrupted him.

“Dude, can you even still breathe?” Light-hair boy laughed.

“How unprofessional!” The blonde one exclaimed and threw his hands.

The three of them looked at him. Ginger and light hair expressions looked purely done, while Peter was just confused.

“Monoma, please don’t start-” Ginger-haired started, but was cut off not even a second later.

“How can you say I have air power when I clearly touched someone before going into action?” He said with a big disappointment in his voice, for some reason gettin even more thrilled. “Was this really that unnoticeable or are you just blind? This is-”

“Monoma-” Ginger-haired tried to say something again, probably to get his attention off the subject.

But at this moment, realization hit Peter like a truck.

“YOU HAVE COPYING QUIRK!” He exclaimed with bigger excitement than before.

"Eh?” All three of them looked at him, equally confused this time.

“Right! I was wondering why you stopped to touch someone before fighting. Oh my God this is so cool! Like…” He started to mumble. Suddenly, the three teenagers were reminded of something...No, someone...Like flashbacks were just triggered inside their minds. They saw this mumbling before. “This is probably the best power ever!" Peter continued. "You can copy the strongest quirks and be unstoppable! You must be amazingly strong! And the way you just went into action, despite this being not exactly your power- But- But you made it yours technically! And you were so elegant and so” he took a breath “so good in a tactical way- I just...You are awesome dude!” He came closer and almost jumped from the emotions.

The blonde guy was speechless, trying to hide his obvious blush. The ginger-haired girl and light-haired guy tried to stop themselves from laughing.

“Well, you weren’t so bad yourself.” The light-haired guy finally spoke. “Your fighting skills were amazing.”

“Well, I uh...Had...Practice?” Peter scratched his neck. “I learn from the best.”

“What kind of quirk do you have?” Ginger-haired girl joined in. Peter thought for a moment.

"Oh, I can do anything a spider can do.” He explained. “You know, wall-cling, spider sense. That kind of stuff.”

“You can also shoot webs.” The blonde guy noticed. Peter looked at his web-shooters.

“Oh, that’s actually not part of my power.” He pointed at the tech attached to his wrists. “ It’s from my web shooters.”

“Whoa. Amazing. Where did you get them?” Ginger-haired girl took him by the wrist and looked at the web shooters from top to bottom, very interested.

“Well, they are not that impressive really.” Peter mumbled again “My menthor did better with the design. This is the first version I built but-”

“Wait, you build them yourself?!” Light-haired guy exclaimed.

Peter paused for a moment.

“Well, yeah.” He choked out. “I made my web formula as well.”

The three of them looked at him in shock and admiration at the same time.

“Heh. Hatsume would have loved you.” Light-haired guy giggled.

“Who?” Peter asked.

Ginger-haired girl waved her hand.

“It’s our friend from school on a support course.” She explained. “She loves building tech with her whole heart.”

_ Well, they definitely have interesting friends. I wonder if they are as awesome as them. _

“Well, well. If we have chatty-chat behind us “The blonde guy cut off the conversation “maybe you can tell us why you haven’t got a clue about hero licences, huh?”

“Is this really necessary Monoma?” Light-haired guy groaned.

Peter smiled again.

“Sorry about that.” He scratched his neck again. He noticed he does that quite often recently. “I come from a place where...Quirks are...Well, not that popular let’s say. They don’t really talk much about stuff like licence for being a hero.”

The three looked at each other.

“Quirks are...Not that popular?” Ginger-haired girl asked in surprise. “Where are you from?”

_ Oh shoot. Maybe I shouldn’t have said that.  _

_ Carp  carp carp, what am I supposed to answer? _

“Uh...That’s...Well,” He started. He knew he needed to change the subject fast. “I went to school for people with no quirks so-”

“Oh, I heard about them.” Light-haired guy interrupted. Thank God. “But most of them are in America. Are you from there?”

“Yeah.” Peter nodded quickly. “Queens more specifically.”

"Queens? Well, your japanese is really good.” Ginger-haired girl shook her head in admiration. Peter blushed a little in embarrassment.

_ Should I tell them about the translator? Maybe it’s not the time now...Do they really have technology like that in here? _

“Yeah...T-thanks.” He managed to stutter.

“But why were you in that school?” The blonde guy suddenly joined in, crossing his arms again. “You have powers, right?”

Peter swallowed saliva.

“Let’s just say.” He choked out. “I was a late bloomer.”

Ginger-haired girl nodded.

“Well, thanks for helping and listening to our instructions.” She smiled. “I'm Kendo by the way.” She gave Peter her hand and let him shake it. “ Itsuka Kendo. This is Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu. “She pointed at the light-haired guy. Well, he certainly has an interesting name.” and Neito Monoma.” He pointed at the sighning, blonde guy next to Tetsutetsu.

“It’s really nice to meet you guys.” Peter smiled and bowed. “I’m Peter Parker.”

“Is this your first day in Japan?” Kendo asked.

Peter bowed his head slightly

“You could say that.” He said, scratching his neck once again.

Kendo nodded and narrowed her eyes.

“Well, we can’t let your first day get ruined completely!” She exclaimed and came closer.” Have you ever eaten takoyaki?”

Peter went to the deeps of his mind to perhaps find any reference to that name.

“You mean those...Fish cookies?” He asked. “I mean, I bought two, but I ate the first one and and gave the second to that little girl and-”

“Takoyaki, not Taiyaki.” Tetsutetsu laughed. Monoma looked slightly irritated.

Peter turned red from embarrassment.

“Sorry. I know very little about Japan. It’s my first time here.”

“Clearly.” Monoma commented.

“Monoma.” Itsuka hit him on the back of his head. Peter started waving his hands to indicate that actions like these won’t be necessary.

“Hey, it’s okay.”

Kendo smiled and looked at him again.

“So, how about you come with us for some hot plate of Takoyaki?” She proposed. Monoma nodded involuntarily in agreement. Peter looked at Tetsutetsu's smile. “I know a really good restaurant not too far away from here.”

At this point, Peter was smiling himself. He couldn’t possibly not agree to that.

“Yeah. It would be lovely!”

***

Peter slowly opened the door. He was tired, his stomach was full and everything hurted. He just wanted to go to sleep.

May was sitting in the kitchen, reading some files and sipping her coffee. She looked at Peter from head to toes. She noticed some scratches on his skin, a bruise on his uncovered, because of the hole in the hoodie, arm, dirty and scuffed clothes and messy hair.

“Oh, hey Peter. How was your day?” She asked with a grin as if nothing had happened.

Peter looked at her with a doubtful look, knowing very well she’s being sarcastic.

“I was attacked.” He said, while taking off his hoodie.

“What?” May was still smiling and being sarcastic. She put down her coffee. Peter sighned.

“The city centre.” He explained. “It was attacked by a villain.”

“Yeah, I know.” She grinned again and sipped coffee. Peter threw his hands like he wanted to ask “Well, why were you asking then”? A grin turned into a little laugh.

“Well, are you okay?” She finally asked an important question. Peter sat beside her at the table.

“Eh, nothing special.” He gave her a little smile. “Everyday life for me.” He waved his hand. “Plus some kids my age helped in fighting. And a guy with red wings flew me and a little girl to the medical side. So...I guess it was handled.”

“Ah, Hawks.” May said, slightly carried away. “The no. 2 hero. You got lucky today.”

“You call that luck?” Peter gaver her doubtful gaze again. “Me and a little girl were almost killed byt the villain AND robots.”

“Robots huh?” She acted like it wasn’t a big deal at all! Well, maybe for her it wasn’t. She gave him that chip after all. She had insurance telling her that he was okay. Actually, why should she be stressed anyway? She doesn’t even know him. “So I’m even more glad that you’re okay. You haven’t used your powers, did you?”

Peter brought his full attention into that statement. It’s connected to the licences, isn’t it?

“Only in self defence. Why?” He asked.

May returned to reading her files.

“I forgot to mention to you that using quirks to fight villains without a hero licence is kind of forbidden here.” She said while taking another sip from the cup. “So...You know...Don’t do that.”

Peter looked at her.

“What is it with this hero licence anyway?”

May took off her eyes from the files.

“You don’t have anything like that in your world?” She asked in surprise.

“Uhh...No?” He felt like it was a car-talk all over again. “I mean, other than working for shield, technically no. I never had one as well.”

“So, the police weren't after you?” May smiled at him and noticed a blush of embarrassment growing on Peter’s face. 

“Pursuits got...Smaller when I started to work with Mister Stark.” He tried to turn the situation around.

May’s eyes returned to the paper.

“Ah.”

“Anyway.” Peter decided to continue. “You said you had a guest. How did it go?”

May took another sip of a coffee and turned a page.

“Quite good actually.” She said, trying to act as neutral as she could. “He left sooner than I expected. Showing him my hidden side was a good move I suppose.”

“What?” Peter wondered what she meant exactly. But May wasn’t interested in explaining.

“Nevermind that.” She said, changing the subject. “How was your day despite the attack? Anything else happened?”

Peter thought for a moment.

“You mean anything more interesting?” He asked. “Well, I did meet a few kids my age and we had Takoyaki. It was kind of fun.”

“Takoyaki huh?” May started to drown in her thoughts again. “It’s been some time since I tried one of these. How did you like them?”

“They were okay. But I think I prefer fish cookies.”

“You mean Taiyaki?” May grinned. Peter nodded with a shy smile.

"Yeah. I keep forgetting the name.” He scratched his head. May gave him another smile.

“Well, I’m glad you had fun.” She suddenly got up from the table. “But now it’s time for sleep.”

"Sleep? It’s only half past seven.”

“You mean ‘already’.”She took something from the cabinet and handed it to him. It looked like a purple-colored pajamas. And a woman’s as well. But to be completely honest, it’s style could as well be intersex.

“Tomorrow is your first day at a new school.” May explained. “You need sleep. Plus, that school is not just any school for superheroes. It’s at it’s top in Japan! If you think you will go to sleep later than eight p.m. while sleeping at the dorms, you are dead wrong.”

“Wow...That’s…” Peter looked at the pijama again.

May gazed at him, narrowin her eyes in his direction.  


“At which hour you went to sleep back home?” She asked.

Peter thought for a moment.

_ Well, looking at homework, side projects, actual projects, Stark internships, patrols and hero-ing in general...Well... _

“It mostly depended on the situation,” He said. “but I guess...Around two or three am?”

“WHAT?!” May exclaimed, horrified. “You do realize a teenager needs at least 8 hours of sleep, right?”

“I don’t think american school system works like that.” Peter scratched his head once again. “Add my whole thing of being a hero, and you suddenly see three to five hours of sleep if I’m lucky and a lot of coffee.” He was obviously joking, right? This sounded like a joke.

Well, she shouldn’t be surprised. When she’s caught up with her work, she doesn’t have this much sleep herself. Still...He’s a teenager.

May folded her hands on her hips and sighned.

“Well, regardless.” She said. “You are going to sleep right now.”

She took him by the wrist and led him into one of the rooms. 

Peter though that maybe sleep won’t be a bad idea at all. It’s an alternate universe after all. If he can use this situation to let his mind rest (if that’s possible) it might be a god option. After all, school psychologist mentioned that part of the reason nightmares are happening is stress and lack of sleep. Maybe it will help...If he will be able to fall asleep of course.

Well, he is tired after the battle. Maybe it won’t be that bad.

The two of them entered the big bedroom with a greenish walls and soft, white carpet. It also had a white desk, a wardrobe and a big double bed. It looked like a small room in a really expensive hotel. Suddenly, he felt like he was on vacation again.

“This is my guest room.” May explained, causing Peter to bring his attention to her. “And those?” She pointed at the purple clothes he was holding. “Are my sister’s pajamas. Sorry about that, I mostly have female clothes here. And I think my sister’s clothes will fit you better than mine.” Ah, so this is female pajamas after all. “But don’t worry. Someone will bring you some more clothes tomorrow. But it wouldn’t be this much of a problem since you’ll be wearing a school uniform anyway.” Peter prefered not to question it. May walked over to the wardrobe and pulled a few towels. “Take a shower and go to sleep. I put a new toothbrush on a sink in the toilet behind this door.” She pointed at the white door in the corner. “I hope it’s okay.”

Peter was speechless. He literally felt like he was in a five star hotel. He just had to say it.

“Wow. This place is...Huge. This is more than enough.” He turned to her smiling. “Honestly. Sleeping on a couch would be perfectly fine.”

May turned away.

“Come on, I kidnapped you from your world.” She said, jokingly. “This is the least I can do.” She looked at him again. “Plus, it’s only one night. What can go wrong?”

Peter nodded and smiled even brighter. May turned away from him.   


“I will be at my lab.” She breathed, her hand already at the door handle. “I will check on you in an hour. You better be sleeping.”

“I will.” Peter confirmed.

May walked out of the room.

Peter sat on his bed, putting the pajamas on the pillow. He looked around to take a good look at the room. Only then he noticed the bookshelf and few photos in frames, hanged on the wall. He didn’t recognize people who were on them though (well, except of May).  


Then something hit him.

_ Oh no _

Nervously, he reached into his pocket. Thankfully, his heartbeat calmed down.  


_ It’s here. It didn’t fall out during the fight. Or even during teleportation. Man, MJ’s gifts are just as badass as her. _

He looked at the little box and unwrapped the bow. With a slow movement, he opened it and looked inside.

He saw...Literally the cutest thing he could have thought about.

_ "A thank you for a necklace"  _ MJ’s words rang in his ears.

He took out a tiny key ring with a red metal spider on it. There was a captionon the spider: "good luck nerd", written in gold. It was evident that the inscription had been added in some way by someone else, after buying a key ring.

Peter laughed and hugged the spider to his chest.

_ That’s so MJ _

He lied on the bed.

_ Thank you. I could definitely use some luck right now. _

It was just now getting to him how much he missed her. Her and aunt May. And Mr. Stark. And Morgan, Happy, Ned and Miss Potts. He wondered if Mr. Stark and Mr. Banner were okay.

***

_ Darkness...That’s all she can see. _

_ And a hum, sough. So delicate and smoothing. _

_ And rocking, like she’s floating. _

_ Suddenly, she hears another sound. _

_ Voice...A male voice...She recognizes that voice. _

_ “It’s too late.” She hears herself say, despite the fact she doesn’t want to. “You already got the serum. There’s no turning back.” _

_ Something is moving, her neck is hurting as well as her back. _

_ “This is not the way we do things.” She hears the voice again. “I just...I’m sorry. But I can’t.” _

_ “So what are you going to do? We can’t just pull the serum out of your body.” _

_ She’s sweating, her breathing is heavier. _

_ “Where are you going? Hey! Where will you go?! Answer me!” _

_ The noise is getting louder _

_ "You can’t just leave! What will you do?! Please, don’t do anything stupid!” _

_ She's running.  
_

_ “Richard!” _

She wakes up, cold sweat runs down through her whole body.

No, not just the sweat.

She’s not sweaty. She's just...Wet…

She doesn’t have her smock anymore. Her blue sweater and white pants disappeared as well, replaced by an oversized brown sweatshirt and black sweatpants.

She straightened up on her seat way too quickly. Everything is spinning around.

It looked like she was laying on some kind of a wooden bench, covered with blanket.  


Her breath was quick. If she wasn’t sweating before, she’s definitely now. She wrapped her hands around her body, closing her eyes. Everything was floating.

“Woah, Easy there” She feels a gentle hand on her arm. She looks up to see a young man, from the looks from nineteen to twenty two years old, blonde with green eyes and sailing uniform, looking at her, clearly concerned.

“What the- Where the hell am I?” She stuttered and pushed him away, despite not being afraid of him. His aura was saying something about him. Something about his looks was telling her brain he could be trusted. He genuinely didn’t look like a dangerous person. “What is this place? How did I- Why am I wet and-”

“Hey, easy there.” He put his hand on her arm again. “My name is Haru. And my crew just saved you.” He explained quickly, seeing she’s clearly nervous. Her breathing finally slowed down. She lowered her head and looked at her hands. Then returned her gaze to the man named Haru.

“Saved me?! What-”

Suddenly, she looks at the window. And runs. She runs, and puts her hand on the window frame. She’s equally shocked and stunned. It’s scary. But my God, isn’t that beautiful as well?

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Haru repeated her thoughts. “Ocean, kingdom of storms and mermaids.”

“Ocean?” She choked out, still in shock. “Is this a boat?”

“Congratulations, you just won a cookie.” He handed her a cookie. She was a little surprised by that, but still took it, feeling a lot of hunger all of a sudden.

“Eat it. You look really exhausted” He smiled at her.

She was reassured in a theory of him being a good guy. She sat on the bench again and began eating it. It was good. Probably vanilla and chocolate. Such an easy fusion, but such an amazing taste at the same time.

“What happened?” She finally asked. “And where are my clothes?”

Haru blushed, but didn’t want to let her know he’s nervous.

“We found you while we were fishing.” Haru said. “You were drifting on some board, unconscious. I should be the one asking what happened.” 

“Oh God...I wish I knew.” She swallowed the cookie. 

“As for your clothes, they are currently drying in another room.” He pointed at the white-coloured door. “Don’t worry though, you were undressed by Michiru, my female friend. Sorry about that, but we had to do it to keep you warm.” He blushed again.

Now she was the one who smiled.

“No need to apologise.” She said in a soft voice. “Thank you for saving me.”

“Uh...You know...It’s uh…Nothing…”

They sat in silence for a moment, accompanied only by the sound of waves.

“How far are we from-” She started again, but was cut off quickly.

“The land?” Haru asked, as she nodded, “We’re just heading there. We should be there by the morning. So rest for now.”

“I understand.” She nodded again and lied back on the bench. Haru covered her with the blanket.

“Thank you.” She smiled again. 

“You’re welcome.”

He got up for his kneeling position and started heading towards the doors. Her eyes started to shut. But before Haru left, he looked at her one more time.

“Oh, and by the way.” He needed to say this before she fell asleep. “Lilly Liv is not your name, is it?”

She was suddenly reminded of the badge attached to her smock.

“Why would you think that?” She got up from her bed, but he gave her a hand sign, meaning she could go back to lying down.  


“I read an article about you and your sister.” He said, scratching his arm. “You’re Mary Fitzpatrcik, aren’t you?”

She nodded slowly. He lowered his gaze, trying to escape the look of her eyes.

Mary sighned.

“What article did you read?” She asked, as he looked at her again. He cleared his throat.

“About the Hikui accident last year.” It was the first time he looked her in the eyes. 

She only managed to breathe a short “Ah” before turning her gaze to the ceiling.

Haru leaned against the wall.

“Is it true that you didn’t know?” She looked at him again upon hearing the question. “About what your sister did?”

She bit her lips.

“You know.” She said in a subdued voice. “Sometimes it’s better not to ask questions you don’t want to hear an answer to.”

Haru lowered his head again.

“If you say so.”

And with that he left the room.

Mary covered her eyes and let out a deep sighn.

_ May..I really hope you know what you’re doing. _

***

Morning came as faster than anybody expected. At 6 a.m, detective Tsukauchi arrived at the hospital, along with a few police officers and a chief of police department.

“What do you mean he’s gone?” Tsukauchi asked in disbelief as soon as the woman behind the glass window told him about Peter’s guest from yesterday. He clenched his teeth.

Did...Did he just fail?

A woman, clearly tired, took her eyes off the documents she started to fill and looked at him with irritation.

“A woman named May Fitzpatrcik picked him up yesterday and took him home.” She explained. She definitely got up from bed with her left foot this morning.

Tsukauchi sighed, placing his hands on the counter

“Do you know their address by any chance?” He asked. She narrowed her eyes (he couldn’t tell if it was from irritation or lack of sleep) and gave him a sarcastic look.

“Why would I know it?” She asked almost in a whisper. She was so tired and just wanted to get her job done. Tsukauchi sighned again.

“Right...Of course. Thank you.” He breathed and let her work. She sounded really rude, but he couldn’t care less about it right now. He took a few steps away from the glass window, followed by other police officers. 

Kanji Tsuragame approached him and put his hand on the detective's shoulder.

“Is everything okay detective?” He asked.

Tsukauchi looked at him.

“He’s gone.” He whispered.

“What?”

“He’s gone.” Tsukauchi repeated, louder this time. “ His aunt supposedly took him home yesterday.”

“The one he gave you a phone number to?” Naomasa nodded. Kenji lowered his head.

“Accept…” Tsukauchi cut off. ”That phone number doesn’t exist. So I really have no idea what is going on. Did he give me a fake phone number?” He put his index finger to his chin and started to drown in his thoughts. Kenji came closer.

“Maybe he was lying.” He proposed a possible solution, but Naomasa just waved his hand.

“I would have felt that.” He denied immediately. “I think it might have been a memory-altering quirk. Just a theory, but the more I look at it, the more possible it seems.”

“So what’s the plan?”

Tsukauchi stood quiet, thinking for a moment.

_ I should have asked more questions yesterday. _

He looked at Kenji and crossed his arms.

“Call Aizawa.” He stated in a serious tone. “Things just got more complicated.”

***

Peter was woken up by the smell of coffee.

He slowly got up and straightened up. After a good stretch, he started to get a hold of his surroundings.

_ So, it really wasn’t just a dream, huh? _

Of course it wasn’t. He had different dreams...Dreams he thought ended a long time ago. Nightmares that were supposed to disappear.

But suddenly, it turned out they were still here.

Uncle Ben, falling building, Thanos, Mysterio. It was all suddenly coming back to him.

He rubbed his eyes and yawned. There was no point in sitting here all day. It was twenty past six at the clock. He knew May would probably come into the room in a moment to throw him out of bed anyway. He stood up and slowly walked towards the bathroom, taking uniform, which put on a desk's chair, on the way.

He brushed his teeth and more or less arranged his hair.

After that, he took a closer look at the uniform. It looked really pretty and elegant.

It had an elegant gray jacket (thigh-length) with green stripes on the collar and sleeves at the wrists level and of course green shoulder straps with a few golden buttons on top. The jacket was fastened with golden buttons and had a white shirt and red tie underneath. The whole thing was completed with long, black pants.

It was definitely a big difference from all the clothes he had to wear to school so far.

He quickly dressed up, trying his best to keep it in good condition (the uniform was probably expensive) and soon after left the room.

He walked down the hall, following the smell of coffee and something really sweet, until he finally got to the kitchen.

“Look who got up early for breakfast.” May smiled, sipping coffee from her “scientist 1#” cup. Peter smiled under his nose.

“Good morning.” He said, still pretty sleepy, and sat next to her.

“I made pancakes. Is that okay?” She said, moving a plate with a few pancakes poured with maple syrup under his nose. “I heard it’s popular in America.”

“This is perfect! Thank you so much.” He exclaimed in excitement and immediately took a first bite. It was so good and fluffy! It was melting in his mouth.

“Is this what your aunt usually makes for you at home?” She looked at him. Peter shook his head.

“No no, I usually eat cereal.” He answered, swallowing first bite. “Pancakes are on highly good days, like my birthday for example.”

May smiled warmly.

“So I did a nice surprise for you, huh?” She gave a small laugh. “How did you sleep?”

“More than okay. Your bed is really comfortable. And that toilet! My god, you have a hot-tub!” He was clearly burning with excitement.

“Did you use it?” She looked at him again. Peter took another bite and turned a little red.

“I didn’t know I could so...No.” He stuttered. May felt a smile coming onto her face again.

“Oh, you wonder boy.” She commented, to which Peter answered in a laugh.

They ate in silence for a few minutes, until Peter got another portion.

"High metabolism?” She asked and Peter nodded without a word. “I understand.” She smiled again. “Well, I’m glad to hear your sleep was good.”

“To be honest I haven’t got this much sleep in...Well...A long time. I think it did me good.” Peter finally spoke.

May looked away from the book she was reading to look at him.

“Are you nervous before your first day?” She wondered.

Peter shrugged his arms.  


“Kind of...School beginnings are…” He sighned, reminding himself of his ‘colourful’ school life before he met Ned and MJ. “How to delicately put it...Uh...A little rough for me.”

May looked at him sadly.

_ He was bullied, wasn’t he? _

“Don’t worry.” She reassured him and patted his arm from the distance. “It’s a prestigious school where students are suspended for bullying. Not to mention how high the level is. Trust me, they will be more interested in books than your existence.”

“For some reason it didn’t calm me down at all.” Peter laughed.

“Why?”

“Well, for starters” He put down his fork for a moment. “I was never ever in my life in an elite school. How am I supposed to know how to act there? Second, I had to hide my powers and identity-”

“So you were a Vigilante after all.” May interrupted. Peter looked at her, not sure what to say.

“Yes well, in a way.” He admitted, sighning.

May laughed again.

“Summarizing, you're nervous.” She joked. Peter lifted his fork again and took a sip of a balck tea.

“Yeah. That.” He answered quietly.

May returned her gaze to the book.

“Worry not.” She said. “Just be yourself and show your strongest side. Show your powers, your brain, your skills. Be charismatic-”

“Yeah, the last one might be a bit of a problem.” He cut off. She looked at him again.

“Well, you made three friends today.” She reminded him about yesterday evening. “So it can’t be THAT bad”

“That’s different.” Peter pointed out. “We were attacked.”

_And I wouldn't exactly call them 'friends'. We just met..._

“Exactly! That school is keep getting attacked!” She said with way too much excitement, like that was a good thing. “You will have occasion to be in a situation like that again.”

Peter jerked off, more nervous than before. But to be fair, New York is keep being attacked too...Loki, Ultron, Thanos. Maybe it’s really not that big of a deal really.

“Anybody ever told you you’re not really good at calming people down?” This time Peter was the one to joke. May answered by giggling.

“More than ten times.” She said with a smile.

Silence again. They were eating quietly.

“Hey, don’t be nervous.” May killed the silence. She squeezed his arm again. “It’s gonna be okay. You’re smart, you’ll figure something out.”

“Well, I’ll try.” He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

May stood up from the table and put her dishes in the sink.

“Finish breakfast and put your dishes in the sink.” She stated. ”In twenty minutes we’re driving away.”

“Right.” Peter nodded and began eating faster. 

May stopped in place.

“Slow down. You’ll choke.” She calmed him down, signaling him to eat normally. He came back to eating at a normal pace.

She walked toward the living room.

She turned to him before she left the kitchen, but didn't say a word. After that short gesture, she turned away again and left. Peter noticed that, but decided not to think about it too much.

He looked at MJ’s present again, stroking golden letters with his finger.

“Well, I could really use some luck right now.” He said to himself quietly.

***

Carol was standing in the hall outside the med-bay with her arms crossed. She already called Maria and told her she might be a little late. She sighned and leaned against the wall.

_ Damn it...What the hell did they do this time? _

Morgan was slowly falling asleep on an uncomfortable chair, with her head leaned against Happy’s shoulder. Her eyes were slowly closing, but she refused lack of energy to take over her body. Not before she makes sure her father and uncle were okay.

The door to the med-bay suddenly opened and Pepper walked into the hall. Carol was looking for answers closed in her expression, while Morgan and Happy straightened up and stood up immediately. 

“How are they?” Carol was the first one to speak. Pepper sighned and crossed her arms. She didn’t look happy, but at the same time not especially sad, so...Maybe it wasn’t as bad as they thought.

“Still unconscious.” She finally gave them the answer. “But the doctors say they should be okay in a few hours. So whatever that...Explosion was...It didn’t hurt them drastically.”

Carol sighned in relief and shut her eyes for a short moment.  “That’s good to hear.” 

A small hand touched Pepper’s fingers. She looked down to see her tired daughter rubbing her right eye.

“Mommy, will daddy be okay?” She asked in a high-pitched voice, which appeared when she was tired or close to crying. In this situation it could have been both. Happy looked at Pepper, wanting to ask the same thing. 

Pepper kneeled down and gave her little girl a reassuring smile.

“Doctors say he will.” She kissed her forehead. “And doctors are always right, remember?” She hugged her to her chest.

“Besides.” Carol joined in the conversation and kneeled down as well. “your father is the strongest and most stubborn person I’ve ever met. Well, maybe not mentioning Maria.” She smirked. “No force in this world can take him down that easily.”

Morgan nodded.

“What about Peter?” She turned to her mother again. Pepper’s smile faded away. Both she and Carol exchanged glances. “Is he okay too?”

Pepper ran her hand through Morgan’s dark hair and stroked her cheek lightly. She sighned again. She couldn’t lie to her, she just...She wasn’t able to. But she didn’t want to give her stress and anxiety either. Especially when she didn't exactly know the situation herself.  


“How about you play with uncle Happy right now?” She proposed and kissed her cheek. She looked at Happy, who nodded with understanding. “Happy, can you please take her to her room?”

Happy kneeled down and took Morgan by the hand.

“Come on. Why don’t you show me your unicorns?” He gave her a smile.

She nodded again.  


“Can you give it to him, when he comes back?” She handed her a little crayon drawing she was finishing in her room a while ago.” I finally finished it” 

Pepper looked at the drawing of slightly disfigured Spiderman and Ironaman flying a certain dark-haired little girl around a city resembling New York. Suddenly, she felt a huge lump in her throat.

“Of course.” She forced a smile.

Morgan turned away, followed by Happy to her room. A smile disappeared from Pepper’s face as soon as her daughter left the hall.

"What are we going to tell him?” She asked Carol in panic, whispering. The blonde looked at her in confusion.

“You think I know?” She grimaced her gaze.

_ I came here just for some documents. I should be in Maria and Monica’s house right now.  _ She wanted to say, but stopped herself, seeing how stressed Pepper was. And she wasn’t surprised by that reaction. It was her husband after all. And Peter was basically Tony’s kid...A kid he just got back. Obviously, it was not an easy situation.

“Well, we can’t hide it.” Carol tried to find a solution. “if he’s getting better we can tell him the truth.”

Pepper bit her lips and clenched her fist. It seemed like tears were gathering in her eyes.

“Look, it took him three years to move on from Peter being dusted by Thanos. THREE YEARS.” She said, looking Carol right into the eyes, to which she backed away a few steps. Pepper's voice was shaking “And it was still shorter than I expected. If Tony finds out he disappeared right after he got him back he will…” She turned away, as two large tears ran down her cheeks. She covered her mouth.

Carol sighned.  _ What did I get myself into? _

“Hey hey, easy.” She put her hand on Pepper’s shoulder. “He’s smart. Maybe he can think of something.”

“You saw the recordings!” Pepper exclaimed, turning to her side. “Peter and Doctor Liv just...Disappeared...Gone, vanished. Whatever you can call it.” She waved her hand.

Carol looked at her, not sure what she can do or say in this situation.

“You haven’t seen him during those three years.” Pepper continued with a more shaky voice. “He was a wreck. A human wreck. He tried to get better when Morgan was born, but it was more than difficult for him. And you should see the happiness in his face when he was telling Morgan stories about Peter, or determination in his eyes when he found out he could get him back.” A light smile appeared on her face.” It was just...I felt like he was finally shining again. That spark of hope Morgan started in his heart...It was burning.” She shook her head. “And I missed Peter too, you know? His smile, his laugh. The way he just made Tony...Forget about all of our problems...He did that...In a way I wasn’t able to...I think he was the reason Tony convinced himself ultimately that he wanted to have children.” She lowered her head, putting her hands on the wall.

Carol sighned again.

It’s true, during those five years when she was working with the Avengers after Thanos’ snap, she did hear a lot about Peter and Tony’s relationship. But she was mostly doing her own thing, solving problems on other planets or cosmos in general. She never really got that deeply into the subject. Regardless of that, she really did feel bad for them. And she felt really happy that despite everything they’ve been through, they managed to set their life right again and stay by each other’s side. That's what she wanted with Maria and Monica and that’s what she wanted to remember again.

But she wasn’t the person to give advice connected to this situation. No, not her. It wasn't her place. She wasn’t close to them. And yet, she felt really bad and helpless...She wondered...Why is that? 

She crossed her arms again.

“I…” She managed to breathe out. “I really don’t know what to say to that.” And it was true. She really had no clue. What could she say after all? ‘Everything is gonna be okay?’

She lowered her head in silence.

“I do.” Both of them turned left at the sudden sound of a new voice. 

A man dressed in a blue tunic, with a beard, silvery necklace around his neck and a long, red cloak stood in the middle of a large circle with gold hoops, or to say it easier, a portal.

_ Doctor Strange _

Pepper reminded herself of a man who once took her husband to the portal, while they were jogging through the park and suddenly, said husband found himself on a ship flying towards the eternal trip to cosmos. Scary memories flashed before her eyes and mind.

If Pepper hadn't seen that portal before, during the fight with Thanos and didn’t know what Doctor Strange could do, she would think she’s high right now. But to be completely honest, she wouldn’t be surprised as well. Looking at all the crazy stuff that happened on earth during the last few years...

Carol on the other hand spent most of her life on other planets. Who knows what kind of crazy stuff is going on THERE.

The blonde was sure she recognized him from somewhere...But she wasn’t sure from where.

Doctor Strange left the portal. He approached both women as soon as his feet touched the ground.

“Pepper Potts, Carol Danvers.” He said their names in a very serious tone.

Pepper stood in one place frozen as if she had been nailed to the floor, while Carol casually waved to his side.

“We need to talk.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again!  
> Sorry that the update took longer than before. I'm currently away from home and I didn't have a lot of time to sit down and finish the chapter. I hope it's not rushed or anything.  
> Also, I know I said in a previous note that Peter will have his first day at UA in this chapter, but I figured out it will fit better in the story if it's gonna happen in the next one (sorry)  
> Regardless, thank you for reading and see you in the next chapter! :D I hope you enjoyed this one! :D  
> And once again, sorry for mistakes if there are any! (feel free to point them out)

**Author's Note:**

> Hello and thanks for the reading. I just want to warn everybody, that:  
> 1 - this is the first fanfiction I post on the internet in (I think) three years and first one on this page  
> 2 - english is not my first language. I tried my best, but if there are any mistakes I’M SORRY  
> I don’t know how long the updates will take, but I’m hoping you won’t have to wait long for next chapters. The plot unfolds slowly, but I promise it’s worth it :)  
> Also, at first I didn't plan to include Carol, but I really needed that intergalactic translator. It's a surprise tool that will help us later :)))  
> Also, comments are highly appreciated :D


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